{"id":4537,"date":"2018-11-19T19:20:11","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T19:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/crunchy-but-sawdust-like-our-verdict-on-edible-insects\/"},"modified":"2018-11-19T19:20:11","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T19:20:11","slug":"crunchy-but-sawdust-like-our-verdict-on-edible-insects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/crunchy-but-sawdust-like-our-verdict-on-edible-insects\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Crunchy but sawdust-like&#8217;: Our verdict on edible insects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"Becky eating a cricket\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/17E08\/production\/_104400879_bugseating.jpg\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Phil Coomes<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Sainsbury&#8217;s says it is the first UK supermarket to stock edible insects, and packets of Eat Grub&#8217;s smoky BBQ crunchy roasted crickets will be sold in 250 stores across the country from this week. <\/p>\n<p><strong>BBC News&#8217; Becky Morton drew the short straw&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As I put my hand into a packet of crickets with their tiny eyes and legs, the idea of one going in my mouth made me feel a little sick. <\/p>\n<p>But the first bite was a pleasant surprise. A little dry and bland, but at least a wing didn&#8217;t get stuck in my throat. <\/p>\n<p>The smoky barbeque seasoning largely overpowered any other flavour although there was a slightly bitter aftertaste. <\/p>\n<p>The manufacturer markets the snack as &#8220;more sustainable than pork scratchings&#8221; and &#8220;more exciting than a crisp&#8221;. However, sadly I&#8217;m not convinced it is as tasty. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Phil Coomes<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    Eat Grub say their edible crickets are a sustainable source of protein<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The texture was crunchy but a bit sawdust-like and smelt a little of cat food.<\/p>\n<p>And it was difficult to get over the fact that it does definitely look like a cricket. I have to admit I didn&#8217;t have any desire to finish the packet. <\/p>\n<p>Eat Grub also recommends the crickets as a garnish for noodles, soups and salads. <\/p>\n<p>I can see how this could work as a crunchy topping to a dish but on its own it lacks a bit of punch.<\/p>\n<p>And at \u00a31.50 for just 12g of sustenance, I&#8217;d also feel a bit short-changed buying this, although the company says it is packed full of nutrients. <\/p>\n<p>Eat Grub says that gram-for-gram its dried crickets contain more protein than beef, chicken and pork, as well as minerals like iron and calcium. <\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/guides\/zy7s39q\" class=\"story-body__link\">Can eating insects save the world?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-43786055\" class=\"story-body__link\">Why you may have been eating insects your whole life<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Sainsbury&#8217;s insist this is no gimmick &#8211; and could be a new sustainable source of protein. <\/p>\n<p>And they are not the only ones. Retailers including Fortnum &amp; Mason, Planet Organic and Selfridges have also started stocking edible bugs. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-22508439\" class=\"story-body__link\">A 2013 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation<\/a> found that eating insects could even help fight world hunger and reduce pollution. <\/p>\n<p>Unlike the production of meat, bugs do not use up large amounts of land, water or feed, and insect farming also produces far fewer greenhouse gases. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Phil Coomes<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>However the report noted that despite two billion people worldwide already supplementing their diet with insects, &#8220;consumer disgust&#8221; remains a large barrier in many Western countries. <\/p>\n<p>In some parts of the world certain insects are considered delicacies but here in the UK we still have a long way to go.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure bugs will become a go-to snack anytime soon. But as a fun way of raising awareness about sustainable eating, edible insects are definitely food for thought. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-46262739\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Phil Coomes Sainsbury&#8217;s says it is the first UK supermarket to stock edible insects, and packets of Eat Grub&#8217;s smoky BBQ crunchy roasted crickets will be sold in 250 stores across the country from this week. BBC News&#8217; Becky Morton drew the short straw&#8230; As I put my hand into a packet of &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}