We Will Have To Eat Maggot Sausages Soon, For Our Dietary Needs As Global Food Crisis Worsens

With our population constantly growing, scientists are worried that we'll eventually hit a point where there's not enough food for everyone.

That's why some are researching other sources of meat protein to supplement our ever-increasing dietary needs.

For this purpose, researchers at the University of Queensland are looking into a a food source that most of you would consider rather unappetizing.

Specifically, they're thinking about maggots, locusts, and similar creatures.

Meat science Professor Dr Louwrens Hoffman says the livestock industry will eventually be unable to meet the worldwide demand for meat. That's why we need to consider other alternatives to replace the likes of beef and pork.

"An overpopulated world is going to struggle to find enough protein unless people are willing to open their minds, and stomachs, to a much broader notion of food," Hoffman said. "Would you eat a commercial sausage made from maggots? What about other insect larvae and even whole insects like locusts?"

Hoffman believes insects, as well as new plant sources, might be key to supplementing our protein needs in the future. However, not many people would willingly eat maggots for a meal. That's why he suggests disguising these alternative meat sources in specialty foods like sausages and other processed goods.

"In other words, insect protein needs to be incorporated into existing food products as an ingredient," Hoffman said. "For example, one of my students has created a very tasty insect ice cream."

Insects are actually a fairly common food in a number of countries, 113 to be exact, according to the 2017 Nutrition Bulletin. In fact, China is currently exploring cockroach farms as a way to deal with their kitchen waste, as well as supplement protein intake.

Even if not directly feeding them to humans though, insects can come in very hand when raising chickens. It's expensive to feed them grain from our limited crop lands, so these researchers are working on rearing poultry on insect larvae.

Hoffman's team for one has found that broiler chicken raised on a diet of up to 15 percent larvae meal don't affect their nutritiousness or flavour. "It's all pretty logical if you think about it," Hoffman said. "Chickens in the wild don't eat feed preparations. They eat insects and larvae."