Richard, You missed it, huge discussion on this awhile ago, humorous though!! My docs still tell people it is vegetable based as well, showed them the chemical equation and told them to find a vegetable in it. Beth Koch COT, ROUB Retina Consultants of WNY bethkoch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:bkoch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> bkoch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (716)908-4105 What we have done for ourselves, alone dies with us, What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.... ~Albert Pike _____ From: optimal-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optimal-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard Tongues Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2010 5:49 AM To: optimal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [optimal] Re: Vegetable Dye stupid MDs On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 9:06 AM, Sarah Moyer <smoyer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: July is here and so are the new residents! During a lecture/discussion about fluorescein sodium yesterday, we discussed how fluorescein sodium is a synthetic dye and NOT a vegetable dye. One of them had already read/heard it was a vegetable dye. He asked if there were ever ingredients in the dye that were vegetable based and if that is why this rumor exists. Does anybody know why some people refer to it as a vegetable dye? Thanks! Sarah Moyer University of North Carolina