Top 5 Facts About Eating Bugs
Most cultures in the world are all for entomophagy, or insect eating. And the rest of us, well, we should probably get used to it. Welcome to WatchMojo's Top 5 Facts, the series where we reveal-- you guessed it-- five random facts about a fascinating topic. For this instalment, we're counting down 5 of the most essential things you probably didn't know about edible insects.
Just how certain are you that you HAVEN'T been eating bugs, anyway?
#5: Crickets Have as Much Omega 3 as Salmon
Omega 3 is one of those important “good fats” you hear about and good dietary sources of it are hard to come by. Bugs have other surprising nutritional properties too. They are a fantastic source of protein, and depending on the species, they can contain more calcium than milk, and more iron than beef. And according to many people, eating bugs is also an excellent source of the heebie-jeebies.
#4: Insects Among the Most Eco-Friendly Crops
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Pig, poultry, and cattle farms may provide a wide variety of delicious meat products, but their environmental impact can be pretty intense, largely due to how much space and water is needed to grow their feed. According to the United Nations’ report on edible insects, crickets need only 1.7 kg of feed to produce 1 kg of edible mass-- or like 3 or 4 of these. Compare that to conventional meats, that require anywhere from 2.5 to 10 kg to produce a kilogram of meat. And insects can be fed on organic waste, like compost. They also have the potential to help slow climate change, since they produce very few greenhouse gasses. Though, I guess bigger bugs produce more gas.
#3: Most of the World is Already Eating Them
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If you live in places like Canada, the US, Europe, or Russia, then your first reaction to eating bugs is probably “yuck.” However, most other places in the world are accustomed to some form of entomophagy. In parts of Mexico, wasp larvae is good eats. In China, all kinds of fried bugs, and even scorpions, are on the street food menu. Rural Cambodians have made a cottage industry of scouring the infested rice paddies for grasshoppers and selling them in neighbouring Thailand.
#2: You’ll Soon be Enjoying Them at Home
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Baum & Whiteman, international food trend forecasters, predict that insects, particularly in protein bar form, are going to become a serious trend in 2015.Experts say that if bug-eating were to catch on in the West, then catching bugs in the wild could be devastating to their eco-systems, so small or large scale farming is best. Well, these smartly-designed prototypes aim to make it easy for you to breed bugs right in your kitchen. I don’t want to brag, but some of us have been doing this for years already. So far, we’re still waiting for the first consumer bug breeders to hit the market, though some DIY plans exist on the internet. If the forecasters are right though, you’ll soon be enjoying tasty bug products like these, or breeding them yourself, just like me and my filthy roommates.
#1: You’ve Been Eating Them All Along
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That’s right, as much as 500g, about one pound, per year in Western countries. How? Well, food regulatory agencies set acceptable impurity levels on processed foods like peanut butter, soups, and chocolate. For instance, in the US, the FDA says 150 insect fragments per 100 g of flour is just fine. Cinnamon sticks can contain up to 5% insects by weight. Also, if you’re eating anything that’s been dyed red, that dye probably came from cochineal, an insect that feeds on cacti. So, do you eat insects? Or would you sooner eat something like this? For more nutritious Top 10s and barely palatable Top 5s, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
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