These Protein-Packed Chips are Made From Crickets

By Drew Prindle July 10, 2014

Six Foods chips — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Snacking on insects might sound like an outrageous idea at first, but once you start looking at the facts, it starts to make a whole lot of sense. It’s time to change your perception about eating bugs.

I mean, sure, you’ve probably eaten one or two at some point in your life — maybe it was a chocolate-covered grasshopper somebody bought you at an airport gift shop, or maybe you just forgot to wear a motorcycle helmet that one time– but now it’s time to fully embrace the idea of bugs as a legitimate food source

Due to rampant population growth, scientists predict that global demand for meat will double by the year 2050. That’s a demand that we just can’t meet. The cattle industry already accounts for roughly 50 percent of our water use, and crops used for cattle feed take up 10 percent of our arable land. In other words, the time has come to start exploring alternative sources of protein.

That’s where SixFoods comes in. This burgeoning startup aims to alleviate the problem with a line of bug-based foods — the first of which happens to be chips made out of crickets.

Chirps, as they’re called, are made from black beans, rice, and a special flour made entirely from dehydrated, fine-ground crickets. Unlike potato chips, they’re baked instead of fried, so in addition to boasting ridiculous amounts of calcium and iron, they also contain nearly half the amount of fat. And because they’re made with cricket flour, they’ve also got a massive amount of protein. Seven grams per serving, to be exact. That’s more than an entire egg.

We haven’t tried them out for ourselves just yet, but word on the street is that they’re actually quite tasty. Find out more here.

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