Better munching with insects

By Nillapat Sanchaichana

In the face of impending food scarcity, edible insects are a newfangled protein alternative. Modern food science and technology allows culinary creativity for bug-eating beyond what one can imagine. From the creepy crawly that may not seem appetising, today we have chocolate-coated crickets, scorpion vodka, crispy silkworms and cricket snacks in myriad flavours ranging from seaweed to barbecue to cheese.

These products are increasingly crawling up the shelves.

To create better understanding of eating insects for food security, the Asean Food and Feed Insects’ Association (AFFIA) recently hosted a public seminar entitled “Insect Industry in Asean: Insights With AFFIA” at Kasetsart University in Thailand. The event brought together representatives from various sectors who shed light on the prospect of insect-based food — a growing industry and a sustainable as well as nutritional diet.

“You get quite a lot of protein from insects. Especially from crickets,” said Pisit Dhamvithee, a professor at the Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University, referring to a diagram illustrating the nutrient percentage of a grasshopper which contains 72 per cent protein, 16 per cent fat and 12 per cent carbohydrates in comparison with a cow, which contains only 52 per cent protein and 48 per cent fat.

Another United Nations chart pinpoints that the edible percentage of a whole cricket is 80 per cent, while we only get as much 55 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, out of pigs and cattle.