Want Some Bug Bread...?

I like bread...probably too much. My favorite is wheat, but freshly baked white bread is great as well. I don't think I want to try this crazy bread I found over on Listverse, no matter how much I want a sandwich.

Bug Bread

Photo credit: Live Science

Certain bugs are very nutritious but a bit outdated for the modern menu. However, as the global population grows and farming land becomes an issue, the answer could be insect farms that require less space. The problem is selling the idea of eating insects to people who have no desire to buy grasshopper pie.

In 2018, Italian scientists came up with a solution—hide the insects so well that the food appears “normal.” Thus, they baked bread with powdered crickets. While it left no obvious trace of the goobers, there were some drawbacks.

Although highly nutritious, the taste was described as “cat food.” Apart from the flavor fail, the more cricket powder it contained, the less the bread rose. It also lost its chewiness.

The worst danger was bacterial spores. Scientists are working on eliminating spores that might piggyback on insect powders, like sterilizing them with gamma irradiation. But it might be a tougher challenge to make the bug bread taste or even look appetizing enough for shoppers to be fine with sending their kids to school with insect sandwiches.

First they want to use cricket powder in the bread and then they want to shoot it with gamma rays? Sounds like a bad horror film to me! Think I'll pass!

Coffee out on the patio today. No bug bread, I promise!