Starbucks to drop crushed bugs from drinks

A little less protein in your drink? Photo by Flickr user SimonQ. A little less protein in your drink? Photo by Flickr user SimonQ. Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Starbucks to drop crushed bugs from drinks 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

There will be a little less protein in that strawberry Frappucino this summer.

Starbucks announced Thursday that it will stop using insects as a food colorant in their rosy-hued food and drinks in the wake of protests by vegetarians.

"After a thorough, yet fastidious, evaluation, I am pleased to report that we are reformulating the affected products to assure the highest quality possible," Cliff Burrows, president of Starbucks U.S., wrote on the company's site.

Outcry erupted last month when people learned that Starbucks was using crushed cochineal bugs as a food dye in their strawberry Frappucinos, strawberry-banana smoothies, red velvet whoopie pie, pink-iced mini donut and other pink baked goods.

Vegans were particularly upset, and the company earned the nickname "Starbugs."

"What originally began as a story to inform vegans that their Starbucks' Strawberry Frappucino was no longer safe to consume ended up being an issue that bothered many people," said Daelyn Fortney, a blogger for the site "ThisDishIsVeg," in a statement.

Fortney started a Change.org petition against Starbucks' bug use that garnered more than 6,000 signatures.

Starbucks said it will start using a tomato-based extract to color its food. It expects that transition to be done by the end of June.

Protesters included PETA, which applauded the change.

"Starbucks clearly learned from its error after switching to a dye from insects, and since no one, vegetarian or not, wants beetle juice in their Frap, everyone will soon be able to celebrate the fact that it's gone for good," said PETA's David Byer.

Vanessa Ho can be reached at vanessaho@seattlepi.com or 206-448-8003 and via Twitter as @vanessaho.