Scientists are pushing for processed foods to be tainted with powdered insects after a poll found that 47 percent of people are unwilling to eat bugs, and only 13 percent are open to eating them regularly. Dr. Maxine Sharps of De Montfort University, England, told the European Congress on Obesity this could help overcome public resistance to bug-eating after the “food disgust scale” survey.
“This has been done successfully with rice products fortified with cricket or locust flours in other parts of the world,” Sharps argued.
“[I]f insects are to be a mainstream part of the Western diet, the disgust factor is one of [the] most important challenges to be overcome,” she said, suggesting “there may be eventually no choice” but to eat the bugs due to “climate change and projected global population growth.”
“Insects are a potentially rich source of protein and micro-nutrients and could help provide a solution to the double burden of obesity and undernutrition,” concurred Dr Lauren McGale, another academic based in the United Kingdom.
“Some insect proteins, such as ground crickets or freeze-dried mealworms, are cheaper and easier to farm, often lower in fat and have a lower environmental impact than traditional livestock,” she claimed.
The Times of London, the Rupert Murdoch-owned establishment newspaper of record in Britain, recently hailed a “food revolution” involving fried ants and worm chili.
In the U.S., the New York Times is also pushing Americans to respond to a recent influx of cicadas by eating them.
Tyson Foods, a meat-processing firm infamous for using migrant and child labor, is investing heavily in bug proteins in collaboration with Protix, a Dutch insect ingredient producer.
