Eating bugs

[DonSpanton]

I realize that many on these forums advocate limiting protein intake. However I'm just curious what are your thoughts on crickets and other bugs as a source of dietary protein (they're also high calcium).

[mccoy]

I heard about cricket bars and things like that. From the evolutionary POW and assuming that most of our metabolic system is still basically similar to that of the apes, then bugs would make up a legitimate addition, in small amounts, as they are part of the apes' diet.

 

Nevertheless, personally I would never eat insects or insects-derived proteins for some reasons:

1. Food which consituted the body of animals, even though unevolved artropoda
2. Possible parasitoses related to animal foods
3. Simple repulsion

[Sibiriak]

Farming Insects For Food: Shobhita Soor at TEDxYouth@Montreal

 

Edible insects could play key role in cutting harmful emissions

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170504110604.htm
 

Replacing half of the meat eaten worldwide with crickets and mealworms would cut farmland use by a third, substantially reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, researchers say.

 

While consumers' reluctance to eat insects may limit their consumption, even a small increase would bring benefits, the team says. This could potentially be achieved by using insects as ingredients in some pre-packaged foods.

 

Mealworm burger, anyone? Insect food on sale in Switzerland in European first

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/mealworm-burger-insect-food-sale-switzerland

 

Switzerland’s second-largest supermarket chain will begin selling insect burgers for human consumption after the country’s food safety laws were revised. Coop said insect-based produce such as the flour burgers and balls of protein-rich mealworm would go on sale next week.

 

[...]

Swiss food safety laws were changed in May to allow for the sale of food items containing three types of insects: crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms, which are the larval form of the mealworm beetle.

 

These insects, long used in animal feed, must be bred under strict supervision for four generations before they are considered appropriate for human consumption, according to Swiss law. This means local production will take a few months to get started.

In the meantime, imports are possible under strict conditions – the insects must be raised in accordance with the Swiss requirements at a company submitted to inspections by national food safety authorities.

 

The worm has turned: how British insect farms could spawn a food revolution

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/08/the-worm-has-turned-how-british-insect-farms-could-spawn-a-food-revolution

 

By 2050, the number of human mouths to feed is predicted to rise above 9 billion, up from about 7.4 billion today, and demand for meat is expected to grow by 44% on 2014, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

 

[...]“When we consider the amount of land, water and feed being used, and the greenhouse gases produced, the way we are consuming meat at the moment is unsustainable,” says Shami Radia, one of four joint partners in Entovista, the cricket farm at Thringill.

 

However, Radia and others see some good news: they believe farming and eating insects could play a major role in solving the problems associated with traditional livestock farming. Radia was first bitten by the entomophagy – or insect-eating – bug while working for WaterAid in Malawi in 2009. There, he saw children catching termites, which were later served to him with chilli, lime and a local beer. At his friend Neil Whippey’s 30th birthday party in Camden three years later, the pair decided to launch an insect-food business.

 

As a sufferer of Crohn’s disease, Neil was especially interested in reports that insects are highly nutritious. Nutrient levels vary between species, life-cycle stage, diet and cooking methods, so it’s hard to generalise, and some of the claims made for insects are far from scientific. For example, suggestions that crickets contain more than double the protein content of chicken or beef are often based on comparing dried insects with fresh meat. Research suggests many edible insects species do contain higher levels of some polyunsaturated essential fatty acids and minerals such as iron and zinc than traditional meats, and comparable protein levels.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Sibiriak

[mccoy]

Congratulations to those who are able to eat mealworms burgers!!

[Sibiriak]

Cockroach milk? Insect dairy alternatives could be the next superfood trend

https://globalnews.ca/news/4226641/cockroach-milk-superfood/

[Todd Allen]

I'd worry about the hormones you would have to feed the cockroaches to be able to milk them.

[TomBAvoider]

In general I'm a very adventurous individual, including culinary - I've eaten exotic cuisine all over the world. However. I have a mild case of insect phobia - I abhor scurrying creatures, especially ones associated with disease, such as cockroaches (oddly, I don't mind, and actually *like* spiders). We have restaurants here in LA that serve insect based food - I just can't. Sorry. Can't get over the psychological repulsion. I once tried a cricket protein bar... and it was disgusting tasting, quite apart from any psychological issues, just bad tasting, so, you know, YMMV.

[Sibiriak]

Belgian researchers try out insect butter

Quote

 

Scientists at Ghent University in Belgium are experimenting with larva fat to replace butter in waffles, cakes and cookies, saying using grease from insects is more sustainable than dairy produce.

Clad in white aprons, the researchers soak Black soldier fly larvae in a bowl of water, put it in a blender to create a smooth greyish dollop and then use a kitchen centrifuge to separate out insect butter

 

 

 

[Sibiriak]

Edible insects set to be approved by EU in 'breakthrough moment' (April 3, 2020)

Quote

 

It is being billed as the long-awaited breakthrough moment in European gastronomy for mealworm burgers, locust aperitifs and cricket granola.

Within weeks the EU’s European Food Safety Authority is expected by the insect industry to endorse whole or ground mealworms, lesser mealworms, locusts, crickets and grasshoppers as being safe for human consumption.

The ruling is likely to lead to the final authorisation of their sale across the EU as a “novel food” by as soon as the autumn, opening up opportunities for mass production of a range of insect dishes to be sold across Europe for the first time.

[...] companies such such as Protifarm in the Netherlands, Micronutris in France, Essento in Switzerland and Entogourmet in Spain are said to be preparing to ramp up their operations.

“We have many of our members building bigger factories because the key to success is to upscale your companies and produce on a mass scale. And this is already happening,” Derrien said. “We are expecting the next few years will be very interesting ones and obviously the novel food authorisations will definitely help.”

He added: “The sort of foods ranges from whole insects as an aperitif or as snacks to processed insects in bars or pasta or burgers made out of insects. We believe that insects for food is one solution for some of the biggest challenges we are facing on the planet. In the context of scarce resources, and insect production is not too demanding, you have the capacity to produce high-quality protein. That is a very promising solution.”