Crickets in Foods, Pros and Cons

The word entomophagy in Greek is broken down into entomos, meaning insect, and Phagein, meaning to eat. “Insects have served as a food source for tens of thousands or years, all over the planet. In the Middle East, as far back as the 8th century B.C., servants carried locusts arranged on sticks to royal banquets. In Greece, eating cicadas was considered a delicacy”.

Eating crickets sounds like a good idea on the paper. As Dr Axe explains in an article from 2015, a serving of cricket powder is two tablespoons (12 grams) and contains about 55 calories, little carbs and fat, a good amount of iron, calcium, vitamin B2 and B12. Cricket flour is valued because it is gluten-free and high in protein. The perfect food for who wants to improved muscle mass, weight management, to stabilise blood sugar levels, improved mood, brain and heart function, and slower ageing.It may even decrease the risk or colon and rectal cancers.

2015…That was almost 10 years ago and I remember some friends at that time being very enthusiastic about the idea to embark in the future of foods with less meat consumed, and therefore more sustainability, less CO2 emissions.

Yes, it looks good on paper, and almost every post you find searching the internet about eating insects is positive, like articles raving about the nutritional values and health properties. Even studies on PubMed show benefits on gut health, on insuline levels.

In 2018, an Italian study published in the August issue of the Journal Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies showed the presence of bacterial spores — a dormant state of some types of bacteria — in the cricket-based breads. These spores raised potential safety concerns, the researchers said, as such germs might potentially spoil the breads, or even make people sick. But that’s about it when it comes to negative effects.

Only very recently did I learn a bit more about potential side effects, via naturopathic and organic nutrition circles.

The validation of Acheta domesticus (house cricket) partially defatted powder as a novel food on the market happened on January 3, 2023. Since that day, manufacturers are authorised to introduce cricket flour into a significant number of foods. It is a Vietnamese start-up co-created by two young men based in Ho Chi Minh who obtained the  exclusivity of the distribution of cricket powder in Europe.

The flour of Acheta domesticus has been authorized in multi-grain breads and rolls, cookies, biscuits and breadsticks, cereal bars, pasta, sauces, processed potato products, legume and vegetable dishes, pizzas, powdered whey, meat substitutes, soups and concentrates or soup powder, preparations made from maize flour, beer, confectionery and chocolates, nuts and oilseeds, fries and snacks, prepared meats. In other words in everything.

The European authorities have decided that the label of foods containing partially defatted cricket powder must mention the terms:

“Powder of Acheta domesticus (house crickets) partially defatted”. And, right next to the list of ingredients:

“This ingredient may cause allergic reactions in consumers with known allergies to crustaceans, molluscs and products made from them, as well as dust mites.”

Given the long list of foods that have been approved to use cricket flour, people with allergies (Dust mites allergies are quite frequent) will have to read labels even more carefully than before. A difficult task with labels becoming so illegible with letters smaller than an ant’s leg.

In an article on the French website “Réponses Bio” (organic answers), Jean-Baptiste Loin  warns about the dangers of elevated doses of cyanure in crickets (5 mg cyanide per kilo). A threshold that should never have been authorised for consumption, according to him, “showing the obvious corruption of the institutions that validated its use”.

Other sources wave a red flag about potent allergens such as tropomyosins, chitin and arginine kinase, which are also found in other arthropods such as spider mites and scorpions.

This is an addition I found on the website of scientist Marion Nestle (author of Food Politics): “Food safety issues to consider Insects use, while lower carbon than other proteins, do have hazards associated with them -including microbiological hazards, the potential accumulation of toxic compounds such as heavy metals, potential allergic reactions in consumers and species authenticity challenges. Microbiological risk can largely be controlled by heat treatment; however, this does not control histamine. In some bacterial contamination, any histidine in the insects can be converted into histamine. Histamine is heat resistant; therefore, this risk must be managed. Risks associated with this can be minimised by correct storage conditions of the insects. Insects have also been proposed as carriers of antimicrobial resistance, therefore this should be considered in risk assessments. Toxicological hazards could include PCBs, dioxins, pesticides and heavy metals. Insects will bioaccumulate these if exposed to them, so once again the control of the production system is paramount. Insects do show a high tolerance to mycotoxins, this is, therefore, a lower risk. The control of the substrate is critical to manage these toxicological risks.”

Has the cumulative effect of cricket flour been studied? What about young children who carelessly eat industrial cakes and bars in schools, about teenagers whose diets consist in fast foods and industrial preparations ? It would be very useful to have proper regulations, clear mentions on food labels, and more scientific studies. But all this doesn’t seem a priority. We rather embark in a frenetic course where human being are the gunny pigs.