Starbucks Takes Beetle Juice Off the Menu

If you've had certain drinks or foods from Starbucks, particularly anything with a red tint, chances are you've been ingesting bits of beetles.

That's because the coffeehouse has acknowledged use of cochineal extract—think of it as the crushed bug juice of a tiny beetle—to create a red dye.

New joke for late night television: You can't spell Starbucks without ewww.

However there is good news to go along with the bad news—compared to the worst news that you've already ingested something you'd prefer to step on than sip.

The good news is that Starbucks is phasing out the dye and replacing it with lycopene, which is a tomato-based product. Why the company didn't go with tomato extract over beetle extract in the first place is anybody's guess.

The bad news is that Starbucks said the items that contained the dye will be reformulated by the end of June, which is still another two months away.

Cochineal extract in dye is widely used in foods and cosmetic products such as lipstick, yogurt and shampoo.

The affected menu items at Starbucks are the Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino, Strawberry Banana Smoothie, Raspberry Swirl Cake, Birthday Cake Pop, Mini Donut with Pink Icing, and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie.

Starbucks has four stores in Rancho Santa Margarita, including one that will be part of its .

The Seattle-based coffee chain said in a blog post on its website Thursday that it made the decision to reformulate its drinks after feedback from consumers prompted a "thorough, yet fastidious evaluation."

An online petition on Change.org asking the chain to stop using the bug-based dye had collected more than 6,000 signatures. The petition was started by a South Carolina woman who wanted to inform consumers that the chain's strawberry drinks weren't vegan-friendly, although it doesn't sound very friendly to carnivores either.

“As our customers you expect and deserve better—and we promise to do better,” wrote Starbucks' U.S. President Cliff Burrows in a blog post Thursday.