it's more likely than you think

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[–]Haylstorm 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (30 children)

How'd they taste though?

Like I don't object to the idea of this if they're labelling it and it's safe. Crickets are common to eat in a fair few cultures.

More importantly what's the shellfish/cricket allergy crossover? That sounds weirdly interesting.

[–]LordoftheFliesAmeri-kin 2.0. Pronouns: MegaWhite/SuperStraight/UltraPatriarchy 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

Like I don't object to the idea of this if they're labelling it and it's safe.

Yeah, it's the surprise crickets that are the problem for most people :D.

More importantly what's the shellfish/cricket allergy crossover?

They apparently have some of the same proteins as shellfish.

[–]Haylstorm 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

Huh interesting. Makes sense they'd mention it then! Better safe than sorry. Especially with how bad shellfish allergies can be.

But yeah here it's listed and I can't say I wouldn't give them a go for the novelty of trying it you know? Might even end up enjoying them.

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

Huh interesting. Makes sense they'd mention it then! Better safe than sorry. Especially with how bad shellfish allergies can be.

Except I would never think to check a bag of cheese poofs to see if it would make my wife sick to eat, and I don't think she would either.

This cricket shellfish issue is news to me. Means cricket protein is off the table for us. Wife developed a shellfish/fish allergy relatively recently. Which is another issue, you may not be allergic now, who knows tomorrow.

[–]Nona_Biba 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The front of the bag says "sustainable." Might be wise to double check any new foods that use that word or claim to be more "green" than your average foodstuff. I'm sure eating crickets IS more sustainable than some other food, not knocking their claim, but if a food claims to be more environmentally friendly then they must have cut corners somewhere.

[–]Haylstorm 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

I mean good thing they mention it for that reason, though allergy things can pop up in the weirdest places. I'd hope that it's just them covering their backs and there's unlikely to be a reaction. But we can't really know.

As for not checking wouldn't that just be an exposure thing? Like if more brands did do it you would then think to check? I know allergens crop up in some odd places at times (bf's cousin has an apple allergy and you would not believe how many things have it in that you wouldn't expect) and I'd assume the same rule of "don't eat anything without checking and double checking" holds true for most people that are aware of their allergy. The problem comes with the ones who as you say don't know/just develop it. That's some scary stuff.

I suppose I'd move towards clearer labelling of potential allergens for those cases? Like your problem with it doesn't seem to be that it has them, just that having it more obvious would be beneficial and safer. Which is fair and could save lives. Making sure people see a clear warning seems like your best bet until people are used to the product containing it.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

bf's cousin has an apple allergy and you would not believe how many things have it in that you wouldn't expect

Like cat food, although your cousin probably isn't eating that. Hopefully, although food prices are crazy rn.

One of the absolute worst has to be an allium allergy, onions and garlic. It's in nearly every savory food. You pretty much have to cook everything yourself to avoid it.

As for not checking wouldn't that just be an exposure thing? Like if more brands did do it you would then think to check?

Cooking and food science are interests of mine, but this one I wouldn't expect because fish isn't usually a surprise ingredient found in western cuisine. I suppose if awareness was raised and this was a big MAY CONTAIN CRICKETS warning on it I guess that'd be cool.

And I say cool, but a slippery slope issue here is that once they get people eating crickets, which are far easier to grow that beef, why wouldn't they just keep feeding peasants crickets. The beef prices will be so high only the elite eat beef while everyone else has cricket protein. I don't want that. One way to avoid that is to reject cricket consumption in all it's forms: raw, fried, and cheese poofed.

Also, crickets aren't kosher.

[–]Haylstorm 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

No cat food that I know of, and hopefully no cat food ever.

The allium ones seem so hard to avoid. As do less common allergies where people think that someone is lying about it or don't list common allergens, there was a very sad case where a girl died due to no labelling on the packaging. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45623831 Which is not something I'd want anyone to experience if possible. I think for now products like this are a novelty and I don't object to trying it and it is sustainable. I think as another option it's good, but it shouldn't be the only option.

Interesting point that they aren't kosher, that's not something I would've thought about.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

As do less common allergies where people think that someone is lying about it or don't list common allergens

Suspicion isn't totally unfounded, people do lie about allergies. Remember the whole celiac fad?

[–]Haylstorm 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I mean I'd rather not risk killing someone personally. I think the best way I've seen it handled was when one of my friends was a chef and they just git the waiters to ask if it was an allergy or not liking it. Then mentioning if it was an allergy it'd take an extra 20-30 mins to decontaminate everything. Allergy people are happy it's being taken seriously, everyone else can just not have whatever it is on there.

Like you can suspect someone is faking but it's not something I'd want to mess around with considering the risk vs reward. If you're right you get some satisfaction I guess? If you're wrong you might kill them.

Not to mention the Celiac fad has been really helpful to people who actually have it. I know 2 who at least are happy it's increased the options and the quality of them. So not ideal but at least there's that?

[–]LyingSpirit472 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I mean I'd rather not risk killing someone personally. I think the best way I've seen it handled was when one of my friends was a chef and they just git the waiters to ask if it was an allergy or not liking it. Then mentioning if it was an allergy it'd take an extra 20-30 mins to decontaminate everything. Allergy people are happy it's being taken seriously, everyone else can just not have whatever it is on there.

Like you can suspect someone is faking but it's not something I'd want to mess around with considering the risk vs reward. If you're right you get some satisfaction I guess? If you're wrong you might kill them.

While you're right, and your example was great, you forget the other side of that coin:

The people who fake allergies because they just don't like something would, by and large, also be Karens who'd gloat at forcing others to be put out for their benefit. They'd love to see the chef forced to decontaminate everything, love seeing everyone else in the restaurant forced to wait for them [or even "It's too serious, even being in the room could trigger it. Take all these other people's food away! You won't? I...agg, I feel my mouth closing up, no, allergy...need EpiPen...i feel so cold...it's dark...hold my hand while I die, please...aaghghghghghghg"..., just to cause everyone else a worse time for their own benefit.

A person who truly has the allergy and could die from it would likely realize they have to outright leave because there's truly nothing that'd be safe for them if decontamination is in play.

[–]Datachost 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

More importantly what's the shellfish/cricket allergy crossover?

A lot of shellfish are basically water bugs.

[–]Haylstorm 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

Huh neat. It's not something i've really thought about before.

Kinda adds to the other point though, if we're okay with sea bugs the land ones might not be too bad either if they're safe to eat. Just a bit weird because we aren't used to it.

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (6 children)

We are at the top of the food chain. We aren't meant to eat bugs. At worst, we should eat things that eat bugs.

Insects are pervasive in rotting meat. A human should not be eating insects. That is poverty- both financial and moral poverty.

[–]LordoftheFliesAmeri-kin 2.0. Pronouns: MegaWhite/SuperStraight/UltraPatriarchy 4 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 4 fun -  (1 child)

we should eat things that eat bugs.

So spiders then? Right, spiders are on the menu, boys!

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

This is exactly why I qualified that statement.

[–]Electronic_Antelope 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

We are at the top of the food chain. We aren't meant to eat bugs. At worst, we should eat things that eat bugs.

Just saying it's gross and you don't want to do it is a lot more reasonable - this is basically nonsense, in terms of the underlying biology. Not only is there nothing special about eating creatures at higher trophic levels, but essentially all the animals we do eat are indeed primary consumers.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Fine. Go eat fucking bugs then.

[–]Electronic_Antelope 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I don't want to, they're gross.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Exactly.

[–]MarkJefferson 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If there were things like buggalo around I might consider it. Because then they would be big enough to cut out specific body parts like one would with steak or ribs. At the very least the bugs should be big enough to manually remove their shells and stuff, like you would a lobster. Otherwise you'd always ingest an inconsistent mishmash of incompatible and unappetizing parts with your meat, including digestive tracts(and the materials therein). There's a reason bugs never really caught on for people who could afford other animal meat.

But the land arthropod varieties are way too small for that treatment. It's their respiratory system(tracheae) that hold them back in terms of size. They at least need gills or book lungs to become any bigger. Also, bigger land arthropods like the coconut crab need to eat tons of food themselves to become that big. You can probably grow them but it'll be inefficient because the cycles of growing and shedding their beefy exoskeletons are materially inefficient. And that's basically the whole point of bug farms. Efficiency.

tl;dr - It's either unappetizing to eat them small, or inefficient to grow them big. So pick your poison. I let mother nature do the latter and eat their largest members(crustaceans) occasionally, but I stick with the big 3(beef, pork, and chicken) most of the rest of the time.

[–]r2d2_21 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

How'd they taste though?

Salty? Maybe.

[–]Haylstorm 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

hahaha. Hopefully like cheddar and jalapeño would be my thought!

I mean I'd try them. I don't know if I'd like them or not but I'd give them a go.

[–]GrilledTofuIdentifying as a block of tofu 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Crickets apparently don't taste much beyond "crunchy". If you want tasty bugs, you'd have to go to Vietnam or North Thailand.

Two of the most notable one was what the locals call "clam worms". They appear for a short season between September to November in the paddy fields. Those are so prized because the really taste like clams.

The other insect was a kind of waterbug. They're raised mainly for their green-apple like perfume.

You can see some of the stuff and descirptions here. https://youtu.be/3Ti3jPkVyDc

[–]hfxB0oyADon't piss on my head & tell me it's raining. 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Some people are allergic to chitin, which is in lobster / bug shells.

[–]Haylstorm 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Makes sense. Good that there's a warning then.

[–]TotoroDeams 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I got a tube of flavored crickets in my pantry, have not tried em yet but I got em. Not sure if they are good though, forgot about em for a bit :/

[–]Haylstorm 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Happens. No idea if they'd be good or not, probably best not to risk it if they're past a use by date though.

[–]TotoroDeams 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ya I got to check that. Heard once you get past the mental aspect they are pretty good. My issue is that bugs are gooey inside and I hate that texture idea.

[–]SpicyBajaBlast 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree with u/Haylstorm, if the product tastes fine and has no health detriments, then I have zero problems with crickets being used as ingredients in food.

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 2 fun7 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Ewwwwwwwwww...

If you feel otherwise, then they "got to" you already.

[–]GrilledTofuIdentifying as a block of tofu 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

The part that surprised me the most is that shellfish allergies crosses over to crickets.

The bugs itself... Not that weird for me because i live in the side of the world where sago grubs are an aboriginal delicacy. Go further up north into Indochina and you'll see MASSIVE piles of fried bugs ready to be eaten as a street snack. The live bugs also sell like hotcakes. They even have bugs farmed specifically for their intense green-apple scented glands.

The keyword there is "snack". They will eat your regular meat like goat, fish, chicken, and beef. Those Indochina nations add zinc into their drinking water because all that bug eating was causing zinc deficiencies.

[–]jet199 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Shellfish allergy is very common and many people don't realise they have it until they get a full on attack.

[–]makesyoudownvote 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

True, but the most common shellfish allergies are to specific compounds or proteins. It's usually crustaceans too not mollusks. I genuinely think it is kind of stupid that most doctors don't inform people of this.

The kinds that would carry over to crickets are actually going fairly rare by my understanding.

[–]ID10T 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Haha that’s ok I like crickets. Nice crunch to them.

[–]hfxB0oyADon't piss on my head & tell me it's raining. 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't personally wanna eat bugs, but I have no problem if there are foods that are labelled with them.

Also, what a lot of people don't know is that there's a regulation that says how much of flour is allowed to be ground insects without listing it. This is because it's not realistic that there won't be bugs in a giant shipment of wheat.

[–]Objecting_Sphere 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

On one hand, yes it's not a problem if some people eat crickets as long as they're not unhealthy.

On the other hand, I personally do not want to eat crickets even in flour form. I just think that's gross. So I am concerned about the rise of use of cricket flour because if it's cheap you just know they're going to put it in everything, which will reduce the number of snacks I can eat.

I don't believe the conspiracy theory "they want to make you eat bugs for this sinister reason" thing. It's just a market response to the growing demand for cheap, high-protein non-meat foods. Though personally I would much prefer soy or bean protein in my cheese puffs rather than cricket protein.

I know some animal rights activists that are against farming bugs for this purpose. They claim that if every life is equally valuable, killing hundreds of crickets for the same nutrition as a larger animal is unnecessary suffering. I disagree with their belief that insects are capable of suffering in any morally relevant way, but I guess they're on my side in arguing against bugs as food? Shaky alliance lol.

I also think it's important to preserve our food traditions. I have concerns that instead of taking steps to protect our ability to produce enough protein through conventional means, our policymakers will accept that we just eat cheap bugs now. That would be a problem for people like me that want affordable meat and plant protein.