Western Eye 05.14 — Issue 06
13
science & technology
food production. the search for sustainable food sources.
Entomophagy — not just yet thanks, it gives me the creepy crawlies
Could bugs make you look good this summer? jo thomas
scitech@westerneye.net
spring time is usually accompanied by mad fads and sadly disappointing attempts at attaining a ‘summer body’. In light of this, I couldn’t help but glance back at 2013’s widespread promotion of a slightly different kind of diet. No, not the 5:2, the 6:1 nor even the 7:0; this is a diet with a different sort of crunch. Entomophagy, a concept both hard to say, and for many, difficult to … er … swallow, is the practice of eating insects. It certainly got plenty of attention last year, so could eating insects be the newest shortcut to the summer body in 2014? I, for one, am not ready just yet. Before you judge me, let me stress, I am a firm believer in sustainability — I recycle, eat little meat and try to be as green as possible. Therefore, for me, entomophagy presents a dilemma. Many insect-crunching crusaders declare the numerous environmental benefits to be gained if we all switched to crunching critters: less greenhouse gas production, water use and farmland, fewer pesticides and a more efficient feed conversion rate. In an age of increasing populations and food prices, declining water supplies and global warming, a cheaper, greener and nutritional food source sounds pretty conclusive. So why the hesitation? In part because they are insects, yes. I’m sure I am not alone in admitting the thought of regularly putting these invertebrates into my mouth slightly revolting and hard to stomach. But, with practice, this is something I could overcome. However, my concerns go beyond hairy legs and slimy aftertastes; what concerns me most is safety. Surprisingly little is known about the food safety of entomophagy. Of the published
scientific literature, very few studies have considered safety or hazards from microbes, chemicals or parasites. Of these few, several found insects caused allergic reactions in some, particularly those with existing allergies to seafood. There are doubts over whether cooking them would alleviate this, and although allergic reactions are unlikely to affect us all, to someone already reluctant, this isn’t particularly encouraging. Even the un, who published an influential pro-entomophagy paper last May, admitted there has also been insufficient testing of insects in food or feed production for the risk of transmitting infections to humans. As insects are less closely related to us than traditional livestock, it has been assumed that zoonotic infections (those “shared in nature by humans and wild or domestic animals”, such as ‘bird flu’) are less likely. However, there is simply not enough research out there; assumptions alone don’t exactly make me want to look up recipes for tomorrow’s locust stir-fry. Yes, historically we’ve probably all done it, and two billion people worldwide are doing it regularly today (there are nearly 2000 different edible species to choose from). However, this is predominantly through traditional methods, where insects are harvested in the wild. These methods have enough safety concerns of their own, with some cases of high levels of pesticides and metal toxicities. However, to ease food security concerns and feed the expanding population, we are talking about producing insects en masse. This has, largely speaking, not been done before and rarely for human consumption. The few examples of insect farming in temperate zones are mostly family-run enterprises, predominantly for pet foods, and technology for processing them is virtually non-existent. Not overly convincing, I must admit.
There are nearly 2000 edible insect species to choose from
Switching to entomophagy could potentially lead to decreased greenhouse gas production, less environmental damage, increased sustainability and more efficient feed conversion rates
Of even greater concern is one of the highly esteemed benefits of entomophagy: insects could be fed from manure and organic waste streams.In terms of sustainability: fantastic. Food safety — or edibility-wise, much less desirable. Again, even advocates within the un admit this “raises bacteriological, mycological and toxicological concerns … which still have not been adequately researched.” More than a little worrying and although it has been claimed some of these risks could be overcome by hygienic handling and properly managed farms, how much trust can we have in farming and processing systems that have never been tried before? We struggle enough with producing protein sources we claim to know about; I doubt I need remind you of the horse-related controversy we were reeling from just last year. Nor the catastrophic case of bse not so very long ago. How can we trust novel and unpractised farming techniques, when long-established and supposedly well-regulated ones have been so neglected? A friend of mine recently bought locusts online, which arrived with a distinct lack of
preparation or cooking instructions. He was unsuccessful in contacting the supplier, and subsequently had to guess the preparation procedure. Combine this lack of experience with studies showing detrimental bacteria can survive boiling and a rather lacking regulatory framework for insect products, and I suspect problems will arise fairly promptly. Anyone who has also experienced an unpleasant partnership with cooking prawn-shaped invertebrates I’m sure will agree: the outcome could be both extremely undesirable and more than a little unsavoury. I applaud this effort to face our food, climate and sustainability problems, to raise public awareness and open up debate. However, as much as I want to grip entomophagy by the antennae and fully support it, I personally am going to need a little more scientific evidence and safety reassurance before I gobble those grubs and embark upon this unconventional diet. For this year at least, I’m sticking to a diet that doesn’t involve six legs, compound eyes or a crunchy exoskeleton. Entomophagy, better luck next year.