Entomophagy in humans

Entomophagy is the practice of eating insects as food. Entomophagy is seen in a large number of taxonomic groups including insects (that eat other insects), birds and mammals.

The term is also used to describe human insect-eating that is common in some cultures in parts of the world including Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, but uncommon and even taboo in some societies.

Deep fried insects sold at food stall for human consumption in Bangkok, Thailand.

Non-human consumption of insects

Many insects are entomophagous and these are usually classified into predators and parasitoids, while some are cannibalistic. Nematodes that live within insects (parasites) are also termed entomophagous. Some bacteria and fungi are also known to growing on or inside insects and these usually cause the death of their hosts. These too are sometimes termed entomophagous, although the term entomopathogen is more appropriate. (See also Entomopathogenic fungi)

History of human entomophagy

Before humans had tools to hunt or practice agriculture, insects must have represented an important part of their diet. Evidence of this has been found by analyzing coprolites from caves in USA and Mexico. Coprolites in caves in the Ozark Mountains were found to contain ants, beetle larvae, lice, ticks and mites. This is not unexpected, as most apes are, to a greater or lesser extent, insectivorous. Chimpanzees, for example, derive the vast majority of their energy from eating termites and ants.

Cave paintings in Altamira, north Spain, dated to about 9,000 to 30,000 BCE, depict the collection of wild bee nests. At the time people must have eaten bee pupae and larvae with the honey. Cocoons of wild silkworm (Theophilia religiosae) were found in ruins in the Shanxi province of China, dating from 2,000 to 2,500 years B.C. The cocoons had large holes in them, suggesting the pupae were eaten. Many ancient entomophagy practices have been passed down to the present, forming traditional entomophagy.

Present-day

Lollipop with ants.

Entomophagy can be divided into two categories: insects used as nutrients source and others as condiments. Some insects are eaten as larvae, others as adults. Over 1200 species of insects are used as food by people throughout the world. Commonly eaten insects and arachnids include grasshoppers, crickets, termites, ants, beetle larvae (grubs), moth caterpillars and pupae, spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions.

Specific cases

The consumption of Hormiga culona (literally "fatass ant") Atta laevigata is traditional in Colombia; they are served at movie theaters in addition to popcorn. In some places the commercial exploitation of food insects has led to their decline.

In southern Africa, a species of moth called Gonimbrasia belina is found throughout much of the region; its large caterpillar, the mopani or mopane worm, is an important source of food protein.

Entomophagy in popular culture

Barrington Hall, a student co-op at U.C. Berkeley known for its anarchist tendencies, had a yearly insect banquet for many years until the co-op was closed down in 1990 because of the rowdy behavior of its residents. Entomophagy is also featured on some reality TV shows for its shock value.

The Explorer's Club holds an annual dinner at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel featuring a wide array of unusual dishes including many featuring insects.

Advantages

Insects generally have a higher food conversion efficiency than more traditional meats. For example, studies concerning the house cricket (Acheta domesticus), when reared at 30°C or more and fed a diet of equal quality to the diet used to rear conventional livestock, show a food conversion twice as efficient as pigs and broiler chicks, four times that of sheep, and six times higher than steers when losses in carcass trim and dressing percentage are counted.

Mexican chapulines

Further, insects reproduce at a faster rate than beef animals. A female cricket can lay from 1,200 to 1,500 in 3 to 4 weeks, while for beef the ratio is four breeding animals for each market animal produced, thus giving house crickets a true food conversion efficiency almost 20 times higher than beef. For this reason and because of the essential amino acids content of insects, some people propose the development of entomophagy to provide a major source of protein in human nutrition. Protein production for human consumption would be more effective and consume fewer resources than animal protein. This makes insect meat more ecological than vertebrate meat.

Disadvantages

Toxicity

Pesticide use can make insects unsuitable for human consumption. Herbicides can accumulate in insects through bioaccumulation. For example when locust outbreaks are treated by spraying, people can no longer eat them. This may pose a problem since edible plants have been consumed by the locusts themselves.

Cases of lead poisoning after consumption of chapulines were reported by the California Department of Health Services in November 2003 Adverse allergic reactions are also a possible hazard.

Cultural taboo

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Casu marzu.

Within Western culture, entomophagy (barring honey) is seen as taboo. There are some exceptions. Casu marzu, for example, also called casu modde, casu cundhídu, or in Italian formaggio marcio, is a cheese made in Sardinia notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. Casu marzu means "rotten cheese" in Sardinian and is known colloquially as maggot cheese. A scene in the Italian film Mondo Cane (1962) features an insect banquet for shock effect. Western avoidance of entomophagy coexists with the consumption of other invertebrates such as crustaceans and mollusks, and is not based on taste or food value. Within Judaism, most insects are not considered kosher, though honey, locusts, grasshoppers and related species are.

The anthropologist Marvin Harris has suggested that the eating of insects is taboo in cultures that have other protein sources that require less work to obtain, like farm birds or cattle, though there are cultures which feature both animal husbandry and entomophagy. Examples can be found in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe where strong cattle-raising traditions co-exist with entomophagy of insects like the mopane worm.

Unintentional entomophagy

Since it is impossible to entirely eliminate pest insects from the human food chain, insects are present in many foods, especially grains. Food laws in many countries do not prohibit insect parts in food, but rather, they limit the quantity. People in rice eating regions, for example, typically ingest significant numbers of rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) larvae, and this has been suggested as an important source of vitamins.

Here are examples of food products and their maximum levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods for human use that, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, present no health hazard:

Product	Type of insect contamination	Quantity
Canned sweet corn	Insect larvae (corn ear worms or corn borers)	2 or more 3 mm or longer larvae, cast skins, larval or cast skin fragments, the aggregate length of insects or insect parts exceeds 12 mm in 24 pounds
Canned citrus fruit juices	Insects and insect eggs	5 or more Drosophila and other fly eggs per 250 ml or 1 or more maggots per 250 ml
Canned apricots	Insect filth	Average of 2% or more by count has been damaged or infected by insects
Chocolate and chocolate liquor	Insect filth	Average is 60 or more insect fragments per 100 grams (when 6 100 g subsamples are examined)
Peanut butter	Insect filth	Average of 30 or more insect fragments per 100 grams
Wheat flour	Insect filth	Average of 150 or more insect fragments per 100 grams
Frozen broccoli	Insects and mites	Average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams
Hops	Insects	Average of more than 2,500 aphids per 10 grams
Ground thyme	Insect filth	Average of 925 or more insect fragments per 10 grams
Ground nutmeg	Insect filth	Average of 100 or more insect fragments per 10 grams
Ground cinnamon	Insect filth	Average of 80 or more insect fragments per 10 gram

See source for information on other food products.

Further reading

• Holt, Vincent Why Not Eat Insects? 1885 Pamphlet Full text of the 1885 pamphlet Why Not Eat Insects by Vincent Holt, with French cuisine recipes

See also

• Casu marzu
• Ethnoentomology
• Insectivore
• Taboo food and drink

External links

• Staff writer (2007). "Edible insects". New Scientist. 2595: 56. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |quotes= ignored (help)
• Gene R. DeFoliart (2002-09-29). "The Human Use of Insects as a Food Resource: A Bibliographic Account in Progress". University of Wisconsin-Madison. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Jeff Stewart. "Understanding the Role of Insects in Foods and Foodways". Creepy Crawly Cooking.
• William F. Lyon. "Insects as Human Food". Ohio State University.
• Ian Frazier (1997). "It's Hard to Eat Just One". Outside.
• Lana Unger (1999-01-20). "Insect Snacks from Around the World". University of Kentucky. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Gene DeFoliart. "Insects as Food".
• "How many insect parts and rodent hairs are allowed in your food?". Sixwise.com.
• Rob Toms & Mashudu Thagwana (2003). "Eat your bugs - harvesting edible stink-bugs". Science in Africa.
• Peter Menzel & Faith D'Aluisio (1998). "Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects". Ten Speed Press ISBN 1580080227.
• "Man Bites Insect" by Sam Nejame New York Times Sunday Magazine February 10, 2008:
• Grow-a-brain website--Section on entomophagy with numerous recipes for insect dishes and color photos of the culinary results: