What's wrong with hoki except it's not commonly found in fish stores in the West? It's... a fish, and far less disgusting than a lot of other fish in favor, like Tilapia and a few other farmed fish from Asia that have an atrocious diet and should really be avoided.
Carmine (carminic acid, E-120) is perfectly harmless, the most harmless food coloring red dye that can be used (and one of the few that is). If you want a "bio" red dye and to avoid synthetic dyes, some of which have raised red flags in the past, that's by far the best choice.
People just make a fuss because it's a bug, cochineal, a very tiny little bug at that, produced in perfectly sanitary conditions and that has been used in food or drink for centuries now (before modern days). They should worry more about the dangers of the other modern red dyes (the worst of which are forbidden in north America). There are about just 20 food coloring that are still accepted right now, and most of the potentially harmful ones have been eliminated already (a few of which after "food frights" as they got eliminated despite the scientific studies in the 70s being unable to prove there were real risks, eg: hyperactivity) and some of the most natural coloring like curcuma can be allergenic too. A lot of susbtances proven carcinogenic by studies have proven so only at large doses only, way, way beyond the quantities that you could ever ingest in food. But they were still forbidden.
Anyway, people totally disgusted by E-120 should stay well away from European products and tons of American ones. It's responsible for the color of Campari, for instance.
People also have to realize that the real color of Heinz ketchup without the red food coloring would be a very unappetizing greenish brown.
A lot of substances used in the food industry are also used for other industrial purposes. Big deal! It's chemistry, that's all. They put salt on the streets in winter. Yuk, let's not put salt in our food anymore! There's iron in nails, and there's iron in greens. Let's not eat greens anymore? Some of those substances are extremely dubious, but a lot aren't, and for many before they got used industrially they were used in rawer forms in food for centuries. The bottom line is that there's really not large differences between the common chemical reactions the average cook seek (e.g.: adding vinegar to water to poach egg, to ensure proper coagulation, dipping avocadoes or potatoes in something acid like lemon juice so they don't blacken, using yeast for bread, baking powder, using eggs as binder, putting greens in iced water to avoid discoloration, using starch or flour as thickener etc.) and a great deal of texture agents (a great deal of which are other starches, or seaweed hiding under names like agar-agar or carraghean) or color stabilizers used in the food industry, a few of which are even naturally present in small doses in food, much like many minerals are, except those home processes are so ingrained and traditional people no longer think about what they're doing. Of course, it hides the fact that in "real life" ranch vinaigrette change color with time, and it's harmless - also that it takes just a few minutes to make a homemade equivalent without all those additives...).
Gelatin is horryfying? Why, unless you're vegetarian (who know to rather use agar-agar or carraghean as jellyfying agents, those who avoid meat on principle rather than as a preference anyway. A lot of vegetarians don't mind gelatin)? Those delicious gravies you get making a homemade roast, most soups made from meat broths are full of the very same collagen from skin or bones, which has a neutral taste and thus can be used to make all sort of jellies. As well not eat meat at all if collagen is "digusting". What's disgusting about Jell-O is the amount of sugar and additives to make it shelf-stable so long.
Another food fright is "meat glue". Just the name... It's a perfectly harmless natural enzyme that naturally bind the muscles together. By eating any meat, you naturally ingest that "meat glue". It's totally destroyed by the stomach and perfectly harmless. The only thing horrifying is that it serves for frauds, to pass bad cuts of meat as prime cuts and such - which should most definitely be stopped. But people who find it "horrifying" should know it's also widely used in the making of all sort of processed meat, sausages and such. It's also used in high end cooking. The whole "frankenmeat" reputation it got is undeserved. People who find using that enzyme "digusting" might want to stop and reflect where the egg white so widely used to bind food really is (or maybe not...)
Anal gland? Well, it's internal and really no different from any other gland. Again, we put stuff coming from chicken ovaries in our food and we don't mind. People have really gotten squeamish. But they will still eat hot dogs, which are far worst, or won't give a second thought to how white flour gets so white, and stay white for years.
The real scandals in there were all the misleading stuff and frauds, like what is passed as "cheese" and what gets put silently in meat when you thought you bought pure muscle. But it's what we get for no longer buying the pieces and using a home grinder too (which would be much healthier beside).
As for the use of carbon dioxide, or the protein content of chicken, it's very Us-centric stuff. The first is forbidden where I live, the second far more heavily controlled than in the US (which results in far more expensive meat, though).
