Snacks containing bugs sold in 1000

Australian school canteens

Snacks made from bugs are being sold in school canteens across
Australia, with the manufacturer saying they are healthy for kids and great
for the planet. Would you give them a try?

John Rolfe
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@publicdefender
September 9, 2022 - 6:35AM

Snacks containing bugs have been introduced to 1000 school canteens across the
nation by a Western Sydney company that says its products can help save the
planet from global warming. Kids around the nation are now munching on chips
laced with eco-friendly cricket protein made by Circle Harvest.

One 50g pack contains more protein than an egg, as well as 14 per cent of the
recommended daily intake of iron, Circle Harvest founder Skye Blackburn, who is
also an entomologist and food scientist, said. “It’s better for you and it’s better for
the planet,” she said. Protein from insects generates about 1/100th of the
greenhouse gases compared to traditional livestock farming.

Annabelle Zaiya, 8, Arie Paul Maymau, 8, and Adelaide Lysaught, 5, try Cricket Chips.
Picture: Tim Hunter

Changing Australians’ eating habits, including by replacing red meat with bugs as
a source of protein, is recommended in research underpinning the climate action
plan of leading teal MP Zali Steggall.
Five-year-old Adelaide Lysaght doesn’t know too much about that — but she
knows what she likes. “They’re yum,” Adelaide said as she devoured a packet of
saltbush and rosemary-flavoured Cricket Corn Chips at Widemere Public School in
Greystanes this week with her friends Annabelle and Arie.

Circle Harvest only began selling its chips in canteens in 2022. So far more than
500,000 packs have been purchased across NSW, Queensland, SA and WA. By the
end of term one next year, the company expects to be in 6000 schools — including
in Victoria.

Circle Harvest has also started working with nursing homes on introducing insect-
based proteins, which are easier to digest and can be part of smaller meals that
many older people preferred, Ms Blackburn said. She also said research had
suggested insect-based proteins were helpful in fighting off dementia and
diabetes.

Circle Harvest was a case study in a 2021 CSIRO report called “Edible Insects: a
road map for the strategic growth of an emerging Australian industry.” The report
said the “current state of consumer attitudes” was limiting the growth of the local
market. But that does not appear to be stopping Circle Harvest.

Ms Blackburn said she believed attitudes towards eating insects were shifting.
What lots of people didn’t realise was that they were already eating about a
quarter of a kilogram of insects each year. Orange juice was allowed to contain up
to five flies per 100ml, she said. Flours and peanut butter were also permitted to
contain insect parts. “You are already eating insects — you just don’t know,” she
said. “We may as well add it on purpose.”

A NSW Department of Education spokesman said the state’s “Healthy School

Canteen Strategy requires food and drink sold in canteens to meet nutrition
criteria, including providing three quarters of the menu as healthy ‘everyday’
options and no more than one quarter as less healthy ‘occasional’ options.

“Canteens build their own menu inline with the NSW Healthy School Canteen
Strategy,” the spokesman said. “Snack products are classified as occasional foods,
including those with added protein.” Beyond this there are no explicit rules about
what a school canteen can sell. The CSIRO did not respond to questions.