FOOD TIPS

Breed insects to improve human food security: UN report

Farms processing insects for animal feed might soon become global reality as demand grows for sustainable feed sources

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• John Vidal
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 May 2013 17.20 BST
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The case for insects such as ants becoming a major industrial food source is being taken seriously by governments, says the report. Photograph: Gail Shumway/Getty Images

The best way to feed the 9 billion people expected to be alive by 2050 could be to rear billions of common houseflies on a diet of human faeces and abattoir blood and grind them up to use as animal feed, a UN reportpublished on Monday suggests. Doing so would reduce the pressure on the Earth's forests and seas as food sources.

The case for houseflies - or other insects like crickets, beetles, bees, wasps, caterpillars, grasshoppers, termites and ants - becoming a major industrial food source is being taken seriously by governments, says the report, because they grow exceptionally fast and thrive on the waste of many industrial processes. The authors envisage fully automated insect works being set up close to breweries or food factories that produce high volumes of farm waste. Each could breed hundreds of tonnes of insects a year that would be fed to other animals.

"The prospect of farms processing insects for feed might soon become a global reality due to a growing demand for sustainable feed sources," say the authors who have been working with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the potential for insects improving human food security.

"The bioconversion process takes low-cost waste materials and generates a valuable commodity. Depending on the species, a single female fly can lay up to 1,000 eggs over a seven-day period, which then hatch into larvae. Potential big users would need vast quantities of the product – some pet food businesses alone could use over 1,000 tonnes per month," the report adds.

Insect eating may be frowned upon in the west but termites, mealybugs, dung beetles, stink bugs, leaf cutter ants, paper wasps, even some species of mosquitoes are all relished by someone, somewhere, suggests the study. Eighty grasshopper species are regularly eaten; in Ghana during the spring rains, winged termites are collected and fried or made into bread. In South Africa they are eaten with a maize porridge. Chocolate-coated bees are popular in Nigeria, certain caterpillars are favoured in Zimbabwe, and rice cooked with crunchy wasps was a favourite meal of the late Emperor Hirohito in Japan.

"In the past there has been a tendency to say insects are for primitive, stupid people. This is nonsense, a misconception that must be corrected," says lead author Arnold van Huis, who has helped write a Dutch insect recipe book that includes mealyworm pizza and locust ravioli.

Westerners barely know what they are missing, he suggests. Dragonflies boiled in coconut milk with ginger are an Indonesian delicacy; beekeepers in parts of China are considered virile because they eat larvae from their hives, and tarantulas are popular in Cambodia. Europe gave up eating them centuries ago, but Pliny the elder, the Roman scholar, wrote that aristocrats "loved to eat beetle larvae reared on flour and wine" while Aristotle described the best time to harvest cicadas: "The larva on attaining full size becomes a nymph; then it tastes best, before the husk is broken. At first the males are better to eat, but after copulation the females, which are then full of white eggs," he wrote.

So far, says the UN, more than 1,900 species of insects have been identified as human food, with insects forming part of the traditional diets of possibly 2 billion people. The most consumed insects are the beetles (468 species), followed by ants, bees and wasps (351), crickets, locusts and cockroaches (267), and butterflies, moths and silkworms (253).

The crunch factor for governments and food producers may be the lower costs. Cattle and poultry are poor at converting food to body weight, but crickets, says the report, need just two kilograms of feed for every one kilogram of weight gained. "In addition, insects can be reared on organic side-streams including human and animal waste, and can help reduce contamination. Insects are reported to emit fewer greenhouse gases and less ammonia than cattle or pigs, and they require significantly less land and water than cattle rearing," says the report.

It is because insects are metabolically more efficient that it is potentially far cheaper to raise them om a large scale than any other animal, says Van Huis. But because of the psychological factors [of many people not liking the idea of eating insects directly] the greatest potential in the short term at least, could be to rear insects to provide animal feed, he said.

Eva Muller, director of the FAO's forest economic policy and products division, which co-authored the report, said: "We are not saying that people should be eating bugs. We are saying that insects are just one resource provided by forests, and insects are pretty much untapped for their potential for food, and especially for feed."

Insects, say the authors, are widely misunderstood. "[They] deliver a host of ecological services that are fundamental to the survival of humankind. They play an important role as pollinators in plant reproduction, in improving soil fertility through waste bioconversion, and in natural biocontrol for harmful pest species, and they provide a variety of valuable products for humans such as honey and silk and medical applications such as maggot therapy."

The Netherlands is now the centre for research into industrial-scale insect rearing with several companies and universities working on ways to scale up production. "The larvae of mealworm species and the superworm are [now] reared as feed for reptile, fish and avian pets [in the Netherlands]. They are also considered particularly fit for human consumption and are offered as human food in specialised shops," says the report.

Insect recipes

Grasshopper tortillas

Collect 1,000 young grasshoppers. Soak for 24 hours. Boil and let dry. Fry in a pan with garlic, onion, salt and lemon. Roll up in tortillas with chilli sauce and guacamole.

Witchetty grub barbecue

Sear grubs with butter and garlic in a hot pan until brown. Grab the head and bite off the rest. The taste is of fried egg with a hint of nuts.

WA Dairy Recalls Improperly Pasteurized Products

BY COOKSON BEECHER | MAY 14, 2013

A Washington state dairy is voluntarily recalling certain milk and cream products because they were not adequately pasteurized.

• Organic Heavy Cream Pasteurized, in 8oz and ½ gallon plastic containers

• Organic Pasteurized Skim Milk, non-homogenized, ½ gallon plastic and/or glass jug

• Organic Pasteurized Skim Milk, non-homogenized, 1 gallon plastic jug

• Organic Pasteurized Reduced Fat 2% Milk, non-homogenized, ½ gallon plastic and/or glass jug

• Organic Pasteurized Reduced Fat 2% Milk, non-homogenized, 1 gallon plastic jug

• Organic Pasteurized Whole Milk, non-homogenized, ½ gallon plastic and/or glass jug

• Organic Pasteurized Whole Milk, non-homogenized, 1 gallon plastic jug

Pure Eire Dairy of Othello, WA issued a recall of its organic pasteurized non-homogenized skim, reduced fat 2% milk, and whole and heavy cream milk products bearing the expiration dates of  5/15/13, 5/18/13 and 5/20/13 Monday.
The recall is based on what the dairy describes in its press release as “improper pasteurization” of the milk and milk products with the specified expiration dates.
The recalled pasteurized milk products, which are sold in plastic and glass 8 oz, 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon containers, include:
According to the dairy’s press release, “legal pasteurization” of the milk was not achieved because during processing, the airspace above the milk failed to reach the proper pasteurization temperatures.
Pasteurization is a process in which milk is heated to specified temperatures (according to the method of pasteurization used) to kill harmful illness-causing bacteria such as E. coli and Campylobacter.The problem at the dairy was detected and corrected during an inspection by the Washington State Department of Agriculture on May 10, 2013, according to the dairy’s press release.As of the evening of May 13, there had been no reports of human illnesses associated with these pasteurized products.The recalled milk was sold in Western Washington, the Tri-Cities, Walla-Walla and Spokane. The dairy encourages customers who bought any of the products subject to the recall to return them to the place where they bought them for a full refund.The recall does not include the dairy’s raw milk products.Local health jurisdictions in Washington state are not being asked to participate in any formal recall verification activities at this time, but appropriate staff should be aware of the recall, advises the state’s Health Department.How was the milk pasteurized?Like many small-scale producers, Pure Eire Dairy uses a process known as “vat pasteurization.” In that process, the milk is held at 145 degrees F (62.8 C) for 30 minutes and then quickly cooled.While that may sound like a relatively simple process, FDA inspectors, while conducting tests as part of the Dairy Initiative Program, found some problems with vat pasteurization, among them improper equipment design and improperly operated airspace heaters.That latter problem is critical, according to information about this topic in the book Listeria, Listeriosus and Food Safety, published by the CRC Press,  because air temperatures above the product in the vat must be kept at least 5 degrees F (2.8 degrees C) higher than the product at all times to make sure the milk or cream is properly pasteurized.In an interview with Food Safety News, dairy co-owner Richard Smith said that the dairy was pasteurizing the milk at 150 degrees F in the three instances in which the state detected a problem.
“We were under the impression that the air temperature was OK because the milk was held at 150 degrees,” he said.Even so, the dairyman said that “out of an abundance of caution,” the dairy decided to recall the pasteurized products produced during the three occasions when the air temperature above the milk in the vat was not 5 degrees higher than the milk in the vat.“We have a loyal customer base. We want to be up front with them,” he said.Like others who prefer vat-pasteurized milk, Smith said the process leaves the milk less damaged than when it’s pasteurized under a commonly used process known as  ultra-high-temperature (UHT) pasteurization. Under UHT, which is used by many of the large processors, the milk is heated to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) for about 1 to 2 seconds.Advocates of vat pasteurization say that vat-pasteurized milk has a better taste and texture than milk pasteurized using UHT. In addition, they say it can be used to make products such as yogurt, cheese and keffir, because the enzymes in the milk haven’t been destroyed, as they are when milk is pasteurized using UHT.The cowsPure Eire Dairy, which Smith and his wife, Jill, and their two children began in 2009, has 100 Jersey cows, all of which are raised organically and 100 percent grass-fed. A small portion of the milk from the cows is sold as raw milk;  the rest is vat-pasteurized.Freshness is key, says Smith.“We don’t bottle anything without an order. What we don’t have orders for we put back on the fields as fertilizer.”Licensed by the state for both its pasteurized and raw milk, Smith said the dairy has enjoyed an “unblemished history” when it comes to food safety issues.

Strawberry cheesecake

in season

Paul Rankin layers citrusy crushed biscuits, stewed strawberries and cheesecake in this easy yet dramatic dessert.

Ingredients

For the biscuit layer

• 150g/5¼oz crushed digestive biscuits
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• ½ tbsp freshly grated lemon zest, very finely chopped
• 6 tbsp orange juice or juice from the strawberries

For the strawberry layer

• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp cornflour, dissolved in a little cold water or orange juice
• 100g/4oz caster sugar
• 1kg/2lb 3¼oz strawberries, cleaned and sliced

For the cheesecake layer

• 2 sheets gelatine
• 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice
• 350g/12¼oz cream cheese
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 300g/10½oz thick Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 tbsp of vanilla extract

To serve

• whipped cream
• sprigs of mint

Preparation method

1. For the biscuit layer, mix all the biscuit ingredients together and reserve.
2. For the strawberry layer, place the lemon juice and water into a small saucepan and mix in the cornflour well.
3. Bring to the boil and when the cornflour is dissolved, mix in the sugar and the strawberries.
4. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool and thicken.
5. For the cheesecake mixture, soften the gelatine in the lemon juice and a spoonful of water if needed, for 3-5 minutes.
6. Heat the mixture gently over a low heat in a small saucepan until the gelatine is completely dissolved.
7. Meanwhile whisk the cream cheese and the sugar in a mixer or blender on medium speed.
8. When the sugar is dissolved turn down the speed and add the yoghurt and the gelatine.
9. When the mixture is blended together add the vanilla extract.
10. To assemble, place the biscuit layer into the base of six wine glasses, add a good dollop of cheesecake mixture, then add some strawberries. Chill the mixture for a few hours and top with whipped cream and a sprig of mint. Serve immediately.