Allie Corvese and Sudeshna Yadav
Chocolate Covered Bugs: A Scary
Halloween Treat
Halloween is just a few days away and
for all you chocoholics out there, it is the best time of the year. Chocolate
is one of the most popular products on the market and there is hardly anyone
who hasn’t been tempted at least once by the countless types of chocolates
available. The top ten confectionary cocoa companies had total sales exceeding
82 billion dollars in 2014 according to the International Cocoa Organization
and Halloween accounted for $217 million dollars, which was up 12 percent from the
year before. Now that’s a lot of chocolate being consumed! Since chocolate is
in such a high demand and with sales being at an all-time high, manufacturers
are constantly adopting new combination of flavors and fillings. So if you
really are a chocoholic, then you’d have no qualms about trying some of the
most unusual types of chocolate out there in the market.
Chocolate manufacturers have made some
strange combinations including chocolate that tastes like curry, salt, absinthe and some chocolates covered with
super fruits such as goji berries, cherries and acai. Moreover, Hershey has
introduced Almond clusters with Sea Salt and boutique companies have begun
adding more unique ingredients such as chia and quinoa. But now with Halloween fast approaching, the
online website Entomarket, Amazon , Candycrate has combined our favorite chocolatey
treat with a frightfully fun Halloween surprise: Chocolate Covered Insects!
These festive treats not only come in a variety of different flavors but also a
variety of insects.
Now I know chocolate insects might
seem like an unusual idea but chocolatiers have been pushing the envelope on
new flavors trying to improve the nutrition, fun and overall appeal of their
products. Al Nassma has developed
chocolate with camel milk in the UAE and has claimed the camel milk lowers the
content of fat making it healthier than traditional chocolate. Another
innovative and fancier chocolate ingredient out in the market is black truffle
chocolate, developed by Rick and Michael Mast, this chocolate is one of the most
expensive and rarest foods on the market. It is comprised of 74% cocoa, a pinch
of sea salt and black truffles, a prized mushroom which cost over $2000 a kilo.
A more Americanized chocolate candy that has seen its way on the shelf is
chocolate with bacon. The Chicago-based company Vosges Haut-Chocolate successfully
managed to combine two of America's favorite products - bacon and chocolate,
into a treat called "Mo's Bacon Bar". The milk and dark chocolate
bars the company produces contain pieces of smoked bacon and grains of salt. Finally for a more adult treat,
there is chocolate with absinthe a product of the Swiss company Villars which has been in existence for
more than a century. While all of these products are unique, nothing screams
Halloween spirit like creepy crawly bugs covered in chocolate.
EntoMarket
What Bugs are on the Market Today?
Some of the variations that are on
the market today include chocolate covered crickets, toasted crickets with
chile and lime flavor, ant wafers, chocolate mealworms and more. The chocolate
covered crickets are oven toasted crickets hand dipped in semisweet dark
chocolate similarly with the chile and lime flavors which are great for people
who are lactose intolerant or gluten free since they have no dairy, eggs or
wheat. There are ant wafers which are made with real farm ants and coated in
tasty chocolate giving it an extra crunch. Also many of these products are
organic and the insects are farmed raised and fed natural diet which is similar
to chicken feed but insects require far less feed. These products use no
artificial colors or preservatives and are a safe alternative to many of the
flavored chocolates on the market today.
The Nutritional Value of Eating
Insects
Along with being a
fun treat, insects have many nutritional benefits as well. A research team led by Xiaoming showed
that insects are rich in protein (20-70 percent), fat (10-50 percent), carbohydrate
(2-10 percent), mineral elements, vitamins and other activated elements that
promote human health. Six commercially available types of insects had been
tested and it was found that 100 grams of bugs (roughly 200 crickets) is
actually packed with more protein, energy, calcium and vitamins than a 100 gram
serving of chicken, steak, or other meat.
Edible insects also provide many vitamins which cannot be synthesized in
the human body and therefore must be constantly supplied by food. Insects
contain vitamin A, carotene, vitamins B1, B2, B6, D, E, K, and C. The bug Macrotermes annandalei Silvestri has a
vitamin A content of 2 500 IU/100 gram,
vitamin D content of 8 540 IU/100 gram, vitamin E content of 116.5 mg/100 gram and
vitamin C content of 15.04 mg/100 gram. Edible insects are also rich in trace
elements such as potassium, sodium, calcium, copper, iron, zinc, manganese and
phosphorus. Among which most of the edible insects have high calcium, zinc and
iron content according to Hu & Rong,.
Western Views on Eating Bugs
Entomophagy,
or eating insects, has not been seen as a viable food source in the United
States and is thought to be disgusting and unsafe due to some insects can be
transmitters of disease. But few
people realize that most insects are beneficial and that very few are actually damaging.
However, a growing number
of Americans are now ready to sample insects that are prepared in the manner of
other foods, and with the use of
chocolate or similar coatings. Entomophagy has been growing in the general culture.
While advocating entomophagy means fighting the momentum of American food
practices, there are good reasons to be optimistic. In nearly every week of the
year, an edible insect event is taking place somewhere in the United States,
and people – especially children – are opening their eyes to the logic of
entomophagy. Most of all we can witness entomophagy on reality TV shows
(Survivor, Fear Factor) although most of these contestants are not thrilled at
the prospect of eating insect and only do it to try to win money. However Bear
Grylls eats bugs on his Man vs Wild TV show all the time and seems to enjoy it!
So whether or not participants on these shows enjoy eating bugs, the practice
still exposes entomophagy to the public and catalyzes conversations on the
subject. Negative representations are still better than none at all, for they
stir a sense of curiosity in some viewers.
Chocolate edible insect are not only
fun and different but can provide a significant source of protein. A blog
written by Lexie Beswick stated that one hundred grams or
about 3 1/2 ounces of crickets contains 121 calories, 5 grams carbohydrates,
13g protein, and 76 milligrams iron. They are organic and despite western
civilizations critical view, they are safe for consumption. So instead of going
with the boring chocolate bars this year, bring some excitement to the trick or
treaters and scare them with this delicious treat!