What !!!!? Is that really !?

What !!!!? Is that really !?

Dear Diana A. Ali

Yes it's true!

Dear Carole C Tranchant

Yes, I know that insects have been used for food since ancient times in the countries of Arica and Asia. In European countries this has not yet been accepted, but there are trends. I wanted to discuss how ready we are to accept food that contains insects.

Regards, Sergey

How sustainable is the project?

In fact, insects are already being used in the cuisines of different peoples of the world. This is due to the traditions and customs of the peoples, but large-scale (industrial) use is still at the initial stages. If you are aware of such cases, please share them.

Regards, Sergey

Oh no!!!!

No substitution for cow, lamb, pig and poultry meat 🐄🐷🐑🦃🐔

Oh my God is it a reality.

Dear Jelena B Popović-Djordjević Tanvir Singh

Thank you for your responses. It is very valuable to me!

Regards, Sergey

Bamboo worms taste like popcorn

--- In Thailand, a plate of bamboo worms fried in oil is considered quite a traditional dinner. In reality, these are not worms at all, but the larvae of the grass moth that lives in bamboo. They were usually harvested by cutting off bamboo stalks, but today they are raised on farms and eventually packaged in bags, just like chips.

Barbel beetle larva tastes like fatty bacon

A very popular village food in eastern Indonesia is the longhorn beetle larvae that live in the roots of sago palms.

Sardinia is famous for its rotten cheese with worms - Casu marzu. It is made from goat's milk with real cheese fly larvae. First, the top layer is cut from the cheese so that the fly can lay its eggs in it. The emerging larvae gradually eat up the cheese from the inside, and the acid released from them decomposes the fats in the cheese, thereby giving it a specific softness. The most interesting thing is that casu marzu can be eaten only when the larvae are still alive. And one more funny moment - larvae with a centimeter in length can jump out of the cheese mass to a height of fifteen centimeters. There were times when the larva jumped right into the eye of the taster, so they eat the cheese with glasses or spread it on bread, covering it with their hand.

In Japan, the older generation still respects wasps and bees, from which a wide variety of dishes are prepared there. One of these dishes is hachinooko - boiled bee larvae in soy sauce with sugar. The result is a caramel-like, translucent mass, which is served with rice. About the post-war years, the Japanese are reminded of jibachinoko - a dish made from wasps (during this period, bees and wasps in Japan, especially ate actively). Today, these dishes can only be tasted in Nogano.

After grasshoppers, ants are considered the most popular edible insects on Earth. And in some countries, for example, in Colombia, you can simply buy them at the cinema instead of popcorn. The most delicious for Colombians are female ants with eggs. This "delicacy" is caught in the rain, when the females get to the surface from the anthill flooded with water.

"How long will it take for arthropod ingredients to appear on our menu? " -- Our dear colleague Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich asks.

To put it simply, I do not know the answer. Countries and people have different ways of dressing, addressing, eating and so on. I have been to China and they eat a lot of insects on their menu.

In my country I know of no people that eats any kind of insects, or even cats, dogs, and so on. I myself would not be able to eat any kind of meal with arthropod ingredients.

We eat mainly, fish, cow, lamb, pig, chicken, vegetable, salads. The most typical dish is cold fish, we called bacalhau.

No one is sure about the human diet in the future. Let me add that, say, the human diet belongs to the sphere of personal jurisdiction, or as the old Latin adage says: de gustibus non disputandum est.

Dear Orlando M Lourenço

Thank you for your response and for participating in this discussion. I completely agree with you. Yours sincerely, Sergey

Dear Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich

Good to know that you agree with my post. Actually, if there is a domain where the old Latin adage --de gustibus non disputandum est -- makes much sense is, say, is the eating domain. In this domain we have personal preferences or societal conventions, no moral obligation.

It's already on the menu in many parts of the world. In Uganda, it's one of the staples

For thousands of years people from all over the world have eaten insects. Today about 2.5 billion people – many of whom live in Africa – eat insects. To date, 470 African edible insects have been scientifically recorded, with grasshoppers and termites among some of the favourites.

There are many reasons why we should be eating insects. They support a “greener” lifestyle for meat eaters. Of the total greenhouse gases each year at least 15% comes from livestock. For their part insects produce 1kg to 3kg less greenhouse gases per kilo. They also need between 40% and 80% less feed per kg than livestock and anywhere from 50% to 90% less acreage to produce one kg of protein than beef – depending on the insect species and farming method used. That’s great news in a world battling scarce land and water resources.

https://theconversation.com/fried-steamed-or-toasted-here-are-the-best-ways-to-cook-insects-107967

Insects are nutritious. Many insect species contain relatively more protein than conventional meat sources, like chicken or pork. Insects also contain essential fatty acids and important minerals and vitamins. For example termites, when dried, they contain up to 36% protein.

We need to rethink our diets and food habits, in particular those related to meat consumption. Because insects are an affordable and local food source rich in protein, they can be used as a meat replacement. To help in this, we put together a guide on how insects can be eaten. To collect the most authentic, flavourful and varied recipes we visited villages in rural areas and spoke to local cooks about how to prepare their favourite specialties.

https://theconversation.com/fried-steamed-or-toasted-here-are-the-best-ways-to-cook-insects-107967

Insects are considered highly nutritional; the majority of them are rich in protein, healthy fats, iron, and calcium, and low in carbohydrates. In fact, the authors of the FAO report claim that insects are just as – if not more – nutritious than commonly consumed meats, such as beef. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/311139

Dear Chinaza Godswill Awuchi

Thanks for your responses and important contributions to this discussion. Indeed, insects are a promising food product that is not inferior in nutritional value to other traditional food products. In African countries where the problem with protein food is acute, they are actively used.

Regards, Sergey

The most popular edible caterpillar in the world is mopane. She lives in the forests of Mopane. Mopane is a huge swath of land that stretches across South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Angola and some other countries. More than 9.5 billion tracks are assembled each year, resulting in $ 85 million in sales annually.

As the eating domain belongs to the personal domain in the sense that each individual has the liberty to eat what s/he likes and the conventional domain in the sense that countries have their culinary traditions, not the moral domain, I see no problem in peoples' right to eat what they ike. Again, if there is a domain where the old Latin adage --de gustibus non disputandum est -- makes much sense is, say, is the eating domain.

Among the Phylum Arthropoda of the Class Crustacea some crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimps are already used as food menu in human diet.

In my country, to eat crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimps at meals, namely at lunch and dinner makes part of human diet. As see food is expensive, unfortunately, it makes part of the diet of the rich, not the poor.

Dear Munira Nasiruddin Orlando M Lourenço

Thanks for your reply. Indeed, crustaceans have long been a favorite object of different cuisines of the peoples of the world. Insects are not quite common in the human diet. But the depletion of protein in food in developing countries makes them the subject of such research. Several large companies (I mentioned Nestlé) have invested about $ 1 million in this project.

I wish you a good new year. Yours sincerely, Sergey

Dear Sergey.

Thanks for the information provided. As you know, the human diet varies from country to country and even from people to people. Once again, de gustibus non disputandum est, and this is mainly true in eating domain or the domains of personal preferences.

I wish you a good new year. Yours sincerely, Orlando.

May be it is used in different parts of the world

Human diet varies from people to people and from country to country. Humad diet belongs to the sphere of personal jurisdiction or personal preferences and to the sphere on societal conventions, but not to sphere of moral injunctions. So, it is natural that people and countries have diverse diets. When I travel, I very much appreciate to eat the traditional diets of the visited country. Diversity is good.

Pushkin Sergey Viktorovich, The FAO has been advocating for years that insects are an important and accessible source of nutritious protein-rich food. In fact, they are already part of the traditional diet of at least 2 billion people and their harvesting and breeding @ could generate significant employment and income. A possibility which, following last Wednesday's opinion by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on 'Tenebrio molitor', could be closer given the interest of the European food industry.

Dear Gian Carlo Marcanti

Thank you for your opinion on this issue

Regards, Sergey

I repeat it again "de gustibus non disputandum est"

It is my perception that if people eat what disgusts them, the positive effects of the focal food on people's health can be lost because of psychological reasons.

Yellow mealworms Tenebrio molitor larva have been declared safe for human consumption by the European Food Safety Agency. Now store shelves in the EU can be replenished with a variety of pastas, cereals, salads and other dishes with the addition of larvae. The decision was made on Wednesday, January 13th. Agency representatives determined that mealworms can be eaten whole or added to biscuits, made into smoothies, flour, etc. These are the first insects that the EU has declared safe for human consumption. Mealworms are the larval form of mealworms. In terms of nutritional value, this is a great food: they are rich in fat, protein, and fiber. In addition, mealworm production is environmentally friendly and has a low carbon footprint. If the larvae are dried, they will taste like peanuts, according to The Guardian. However, the delicacy may not be suitable for everyone: the larvae are not recommended for people with an allergy to shrimp and dust mites. In order for products with added worms to be in stores, representatives of the agency must submit an appropriate permit, which will then be put to a vote between the EU member states.

A total of 15 applications for the approval of products based on insects have been submitted to the EU agency. Some of them will soon have solutions: crickets, locusts, and darkling beetles.

Dear Sergey.

Thanks for the timely and productive information on the topic at hand; It is welcome and much appreciated.

I dont think this is real, of course not in my country