From insect pasta to aperitifs (molitors):for some time now, insects have been on our plates! So, do we dare or not? If the idea of biting into a cricket can divide, that of its nutritional qualities much less since according to a study published in the journal European Journal of Clinicat Nutrition, and carried out by Oxford researchers, insects would be more nutritious than oxen, pigs or even chickens... Enough to make us want to ride a bike with a smile (just to swallow flies) (or not) (you know by the way that we eat on average 500 grams of insects per year unwittingly?) (gulps).
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed insects (locusts, bees, silkworms, caterpillars) and more traditional meat (chicken, beef, pork) using two techniques:
1/ The Ofcom method:they analyzed 100 gram samples to note their level of energy, sodium, saturated fat and sugar, and assigned them a value ranging from 1 to 100. The higher the score, the higher the nutritional value.
2/ The Nutrient Value Score (NVS):this time, they focused on their protein content, their energy, their level of fat, calcium and their vitamins
Closing? If according to the Ofcom method, the results between insects and traditional meat are kif-kif, insects come in top position in the NVS results.
The problem:From an ecological point of view, the result would be less conclusive:"Insects, in particular mealworms or crickets, have a lower CO2 impact than other vertebrate animal species. They occupy less agricultural space, but the energy needs of their culture are important since it exceeds that of milk and reaches that of pork. So let's take a few intellectual and scientific precautions before rushing headlong into enhomophagy," explains nutritionist Béatrice De Reynal to Atlantico, while Bruno Parmentier, an engineer from the School of Mines and an economist, assures that within 15 or 20 years, in the candy bars that make children happy at snack time, "there will surely be more mealworms than pigs.
