Slashdot Mirror
Is Cockroach Milk the Ultimate Superfood? (globalnews.ca)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Global News: It may not be everyone's cup of milk, but for years now, some researchers believe insect milk, like cockroach milk, could be the next big dairy alternative. A report in 2016 found Pacific Beetle cockroaches specifically created nutrient-filled milk crystals that could also benefit humans, the Hindustan Times reports. Others report producing cockroach milk isn't easy, either -- it takes 1,000 cockroaches to make 100 grams of milk, Inverse reports, and other options could include a cockroach milk pill. And although it has been two years since the study, some people are still hopeful. Insect milk, or entomilk, is already being used and consumed by Cape Town-based company Gourmet Grubb, IOL reports.
Jarrod Goldin, [president of Entomo Farms which launched in 2014], got interested in the insect market after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation in 2013 announced people around the world were consuming more than 1,900 insects. As his brothers were already farming insects for fishing and reptile use, Goldin thought it would be a smart business opportunity to focus on food. Goldin adds studies have shown cricket powder can be a high source of protein and B12. The PC version his company produces has 13 grams of protein per every 2 1/2 tbsps. Toronto-based registered dietitian Andy De Santis says for protein alternatives, insects are definitely in the playing field. According to ScienceAlert, Diploptera punctate is the only known cockroach to give birth to live young and has been shown to pump out a type of "milk" containing protein crystals to feed its babies. "The fact that an insect produces milk is pretty fascinating -- but what fascinated researchers is the fact that a single one of these protein crystals contains more than three times the amount of energy found in an equivalent amount of buffalo milk (which is also higher in calories than regular cow's milk)."
Researchers are now working to replicate the crystals in the lab. They are working with yeast to produce the crystal in much larger quantities -- "making it slightly more efficient than extracting crystals from cockroach's guts," reports ScienceAlert.
Jarrod Goldin, [president of Entomo Farms which launched in 2014], got interested in the insect market after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation in 2013 announced people around the world were consuming more than 1,900 insects. As his brothers were already farming insects for fishing and reptile use, Goldin thought it would be a smart business opportunity to focus on food. Goldin adds studies have shown cricket powder can be a high source of protein and B12. The PC version his company produces has 13 grams of protein per every 2 1/2 tbsps. Toronto-based registered dietitian Andy De Santis says for protein alternatives, insects are definitely in the playing field. According to ScienceAlert, Diploptera punctate is the only known cockroach to give birth to live young and has been shown to pump out a type of "milk" containing protein crystals to feed its babies. "The fact that an insect produces milk is pretty fascinating -- but what fascinated researchers is the fact that a single one of these protein crystals contains more than three times the amount of energy found in an equivalent amount of buffalo milk (which is also higher in calories than regular cow's milk)."
Researchers are now working to replicate the crystals in the lab. They are working with yeast to produce the crystal in much larger quantities -- "making it slightly more efficient than extracting crystals from cockroach's guts," reports ScienceAlert.
Book of Leviticus, Deuteronomy and other good books set out in easy to understand terms what is acceptable for humans.
ie But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
So, we have a "food" produced by insects that humans have not consumed until now. Since humans have never eaten it before, it may or may not be fully suitable for human needs. It does, however, have a high concentration of some specific nutrients that humans need.
But actually harvesting the food from insects is difficult so they want to engineer yeast to produce it.
So, if you need to create an artificial "bio factory" to create the substance, why not skip the cockroach step and engineer the yeast to produce a substance that either we know is useful for humans because humans already eat it, or a substance designed to be useful to humans?
Or is genetic engineering just not that sophisticated yet and the best we can do is cut and paste a DNA sequence from cockroaches and hope it does it the same thing in yeast?
...but let's be reasonable: are there really very many people who would rather drink cockroach milk over milk made from soy, rice, almonds, cashews, etc..?
Same with all these new insect 'energy bars' I'm finding. The idea is sustainability. Which I'm all for. But again: are there really a lot of people who'd rather eat insects than plants? Is this just a gimmick/fad, or is there a burgeoning population dying to eat this stuff?
Look at the way hamburger 'meat' in America contains on average 5 to 7% beef ONLY nowadays, depending on brand.
Nonsense. Unless you're buying your meat from the rebels living in the sewers of San Angeles, this isn't even remotely true.
By the way pork tastes gross, eat beef instead.
If you think bacon tastes gross your biology has horribly failed you.