INGREDIENTS

Annatto Extract: A natural, vegetable dye from a tropical tree, gives yellow to pink color. It is used in dairy products, cheese, ice creams, baked goods, margarine, and cereals. It is also used to color some meat product casings as bologna and frankfurters. Annatto is produced from the reddish pulp which surrounds the seed of the achiote (Bixa orellana L.). Annatto is commonly found in Latin America and Caribbean cuisines as both a coloring agent and for flavoring. Central and South American natives use the seeds to make a body paint, and lipstick. For this reason, the achiote is sometimes called the lipstick-tree. It was probably not initially used as a food additive but for other reasons, such as body painting, to ward off evil, and as an insect repellent. In the United States, annatto extract is listed as a color additive “exempt from certification” and is commonly considered to be a natural color. Annatto has been linked with many cases of food-related allergies, and is the only natural food coloring believed to cause as many allergic-type reactions as artificial food coloring. Because it is a natural colorant, companies using annatto may label their products "all natural" or "no artificial colors". However, consumers with food dye sensitivity or intolerance may wish to avoid products containing annatto.
Processing:Fruits are dried and seeds extracted from them are crushed. The seeds have a coating of an oily paste that contains bixin. Bixin is a yellow orange carotenoid. It is extracted using aqueous alkaline solution and vegetable oil solvent.

Oleoresin: A natural plant product consisting of essential oil and resin extracted from a substance, such as ginger, by means of alcohol, ether, or acetone. Certain spices are extracted as oleoresins for color rather than for flavor. Such as paprika oleoresin and turmeric oleoresin.

Lard and Lard Oils: Pork fat and oils. It is the purified internal fat from the abdomen of a hog. It is used in packaging and in chewing gum bases. Easily absorbed by skin and it is used as a lubricant, emollient, and base in shaving creams, soaps, and various cosmetic creams. When lard was fed to laboratory animals in doses of from 2 to 25 percent of the diet, the male mice had a shortened life span and increased osteoarthritis. It is GRAS, generally recognized as safe, by FDA.