By Lisa Lupo
August 13, 2015
Quality Assurance Magazine
Most food companies are concerned with insects as adulterants in the products they produce. But a new wave of food products is intentionally including insects and labeling them as a key ingredient in the food. To expose the industry to this evolving food option, this QA Profile focuses on the breeding and manufacturing of insects as human food, its founding as a sustainable food option, the food safety and quality aspects of these unique products, and the challenges of overcoming the Western “Yuck Factor” to turn these sustainable foods from trend to mainstream. To get to the meat of the story (so to speak), QA Editor Lisa Lupo toured Big Cricket Farms, the first U.S. edible-insect farm; visited with the founder of Chapul, the manufacturer of the first U.S. commercial insect-flour product; and, yes, had her first bite of crickets—both crunchy whole and as a protein-rich ingredient. (See ViewPoint)
Why Should We Eat Bugs?
Bugs could be called a SUPER food. They are:
Sustainable—In 2013, FAO published a 200-page document on the contribution that entomophagy makes to food security and the prospects of increased commercial production. As the report states, insects are a promising alternative to the conventional production of meat, for both human consumption and animal feed.
