Currently browsing posts about: Insects

For no particular reason other than curiosity, I’ve been hanging on to these items.  This feels like a good time to share them.

• Thorny issue: Malaysian durian industry hit by demand slump and manpower shortage due to COVID-19:  The durian industry in Malaysia has been hit hard by a drastic drop in demand and lack of manpower due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a sharp downturn for one of the country’s most popular exports.  Read more
• Wake up and smell the … peanuts? Virginia Gold Peanut Coffee offers novel twist on classic drink:  With the invention of peanut coffee, fifth generation peanut farmer James Harrell found a way to combine in one product the rich history and future of his hometown of Suffolk, Va., which as the headquarters for Planters Peanuts was once known as the ‘peanut capital of the world’ before an influx of prominent coffee companies inspired the new moniker ‘caffeine capital.’… Read more
• The recipe for ‘healthier’ milk chocolate? Just add peanut waste:  Scientists claim to have found a ‘new way’ to boost the antioxidant properties of milk chocolate: by combining it with waste peanut skins…. Read more
• Apricot kernels recalled in New Zealand due to poisoning risk:   Raw apricot kernels are being recalled in New Zealand after three people needed hospital treatment. They were sold by Christchurch business Ethnic Market in Linwood. Sale of raw apricot kernels is prohibited under New Zealand food law. Those admitted to the hospital as a precaution have since been discharged after eating the raw kernels. Ethnic General… Continue Reading  
  What’s for dinner? Grasshoppers, says Hargol FoodTech as it raises $3m to build edible insect operationIsraeli firm Hargol FoodTech – which is blazing a distinct trail in the embryonic edible insect sector by focusing on grasshoppers, rather than crickets – has completed a $3m financing round from existing shareholders, Singapore-based Sirius Venture Capital and Netherlands-based SLJ Investment Partners…. Read more
• Insect fat the new butter replacement? Researchers see potential in bakery products: Researchers have examined the potential for black soldier fly larvae fat to partially substitute butter in cakes, cookies and waffles…. Read more 
  Farmed sea cucumbers: The new ‘superfood’ functional ingredient?  Researchers in Norway are investigating commercial farming practices for sea cucumbers, which they say should be exploited as a raw ingredient for health products…. Read more
• White paper: The fiber opportunity in dairy: Want to learn more about how to replace sugar with dietary fiber in dairy products without losing their sweetness? …Download our free paper to learn all you need to know about our biological solution Saphera® Fiber.  [this is an ad]

I was interested to see this announcement from the University of Eastern Finland about new research suggesting a way to improve the nutritional quality of fats from….edible grasshoppers!

Until I read this account, I did not know that

• Long-horned grasshoppers are widely consumed as snacks in parts of Africa.
• More than 2,000 insect species are known to be eaten by humans.
• Raising edible insects requires less space and water and has lower greenhouse emissions than meat production.
• In some places, overexploitation of insect resources is a problem.
• Feeding omega-3 fatty acids to grasshoppers to finish off their growth (as is done with farmed salmon) improves their essential fatty acid levels.

This research was done for a doctoral dissertation and published in the Journal of Economic Entomology.  It must have been a lot of fun to do.

Yum?

I can’t say that I am particularly interested in eating insects but I know there is a lot of interest in them as an alternative food source, and I was intrigued by a story about a new guide to labeling insect-based foods.

Since the link given for this publication does not seem to work, I went to the website of the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF), an organization I am happy to know about.

IPIFF is “the voice of the insect sector in the European Union.”  It represents  52 small and medium-sized producers of insects for the European market.  Who knew?

Its mission:

to promote the wider use of insects as an alternative or new source of protein for human consumption and animal feed through continuous dialogue with the European institutions. Notably, IPIFF centres its activities around advocating for appropriate EU legislative frameworks to apply to insect production.

Its publications are here.

Want to know more about insects in human nutrition?  Try this:

Interesting, no?  I’m happy to know about this site.