edible insects

Insects are more nutritious than sirloin beef, according to the latest study to sing the virtues of creepy crawlers as the answer to all our protein problems.

Writing in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, researchers from King’s College London and China’s Ningbo University claimed humans digest minerals from insects more readily than they do from meat - making grasshopper, cricket, mealworm and buffalo worms a better source of iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese and zinc than burgers and steaks (as long as you eat enough, of course).

I am not going to quibble with scientists over the nutritional absorption spectrum, but I will take this opportunity to question whether this sort of research is likely to make any difference to our diets.

Because for all the science pointing to the nutritional and environmental benefits of insects, let’s face it – Brits are not going to swap their meat for maggots anytime soon.

Forget comparing us with Asian nations that delight in insect cuisine – we aren’t even as adventurous as our (for now) fellow Europeans when it comes to food. Glazed cheese curd? I think not. Frogs legs? Not on your nelly.

So perhaps rather than spending too much time analysing the mineral content of crickets, we should focus on improving the sustainability of the food we are already eating.

And there is plenty we can do. Just look at Waitrose, which has just introduced non-GM soya from Europe for use as a source of protein in pig feed used its dedicated pork supplier, Dalehead Foods.

The move marks the start of the retailer’s efforts to reduce reliance on South American soya and source its animal feed from raw materials grown in the UK and Europe – something the Soil Association has hailed as “good for the climate, good for UK farmers, and good for consumers.”

Which brings me back to another source of readily available protein that could be used to replace soya in animal feed – insects.

Feeding insects to pigs and poultry is currently banned under EU legislation, but suppliers argue there are huge potential benefits to be had from allowing insect products reared on 100% vegetables substrates to be used as feed for aquaculture, poultry and pigs.

They warn public perceptions could be the biggest stumbling block, but I am pretty sure most Brits would rather insects were fed to pigs than used to replace their pork chop.

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