You Need More Spiders In Your Diet

In a Wall Street Journal article, two Dutch entomologists explain the work that’s being done to figure out how to incorporate more insects into Westerners’ diets. They say eating bugs is nutritious and easier on the environment than eating livestock, plus they have a delicious nutty taste. Still not interested in eating insects? Well, it may be too late. The scientists write:

Though it is true that intentionally eating insects is common only in developing countries, everyone already eats some amount of insects. The average person consumes about a pound of insects per year, mostly mixed into other foods. In the U.S., most processed foods contain small amounts of insects, within limits set by the Food and Drug Administration. For chocolate, the FDA limit is 60 insect fragments per 100 grams. Peanut butter can have up to 30 insect parts per 100 grams, and fruit juice can have five fruit-fly eggs and one or two larvae per 250 milliliters (just over a cup). We also use many insect products to dye our foods, such as the red dye cochineal in imitation crab sticks, Campari and candies. So we’re already some of the way there in making six-legged creatures a regular part of our diet.