JetBlue may offer snacks made from insects

[brooklynite]

Source: Crains New York

Airplane food has long been the least enticing part of a journey, but a new partnership is about to make airline dining options more adventurous.

Manhattan-based food and beverage accelerator and investor AccelFoods announced Wednesday that it has struck a deal with JetBlue, which will showcase AccelFoods-backed startups at exhibits in its Terminal 5 hub at John F. Kennedy Airport through Thursday Oct. 9. The airline will offer samples of those products on selected flight routes starting in 2015.

The idea of food companies and airlines entering into deals is rather common, but this particular pact is made unique by the type of products in which AccelFoods invests. For instance, based on the company’s portfolio, future JetBlue "innovation boxes" could offer travelers a menu of mushroom tea, chia-seed muesli and energy bars made with ground-up crickets.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20141008/SMALLBIZ/141009856/jetblue-may-offer-snacks-made-from-insects

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Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside...

[get the red out]

1. No thanks

I wouldn't need to eat on a flight that badly.

[calimary]

6. The only problem with that is - if things get bad enough, a meal of

crickets might be the best source of protein. My husband the science and history wonk says that every so often.

[Adrahil]

25. Mega be, but we ain't there yet. I have a hard enough time with crabs!

[True Blue Door]

2. Better idea: Make the passengers eat each other.

Will free up space during the flight, and the airline would get to keep the baggage of the devoured. It's a win-win.

[wendylaroux]

3. hmmmmm....

I keep picturing maintenance people saving the stuff from the windshield after a flight.

[brooklynite]

5. I think they use the onse that get sucked in the engine...

...that way you do the roasting and chopping at the same time.

[yurbud]

35. After? How about DURING

Just put a funnel on the front that directs any bug strikes to a soup pot

[unblock]

4. i've had crickets in mexico. slightly crunchy, slightly meaty, no big deal.

if you have no problem eating animal, i don't know why you'd have a problem eating crickets.

to my mind, eating cow or chicken is, if anything, more disgusting; but then, i don't eat those anymore.

[RufusTFirefly]

13. Yes. It's a cultural affectation.

Why is it that many people find eating insects disgusting and yet many of those same people find the prospect of eating shrimp to be mouth-watering?

[VanillaRhapsody]

18. so you just stick to the crickets now?

[unblock]

21. and the mouth-watering shrimp described in the post above yours ;)

[Adrahil]

26. I admit... It's psychological. But there ya go. NT

[valerief]

7. The flying experience just gets better and better. Pretty soon they'll

promise crying babies on all flights.

[Helen Borg]

8. Thank you, but I'll stick with my fermented octopus bar :)

[closeupready]

9. There was an episode of "Shark Tank" - a cricket energy bar guy

offered the sharks a deal on his ground cricket energy bar - they had a good laugh about it, but someone did eventually give him an offer, IIRC. I wonder if it's the same product.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

10. They must have just watched Snowpiercer.

...

[RufusTFirefly]

11. Dumb idea. Perhaps that's obvious. But not in the way you might think.

Seems to me that if they're going to provide food made out of exotic or unusual ingredients that they should be proud of it. Ground up crickets becomes a creepy sort of mystery meat, a precursor to soylent green. On the other hand, if the snacks truly looked like crickets, I think it could be appealing to adventurous travelers. I might be interested in spicy grasshoppers, for example.

[unblock]

22. yeah the cricket tacos i had were filled with, among other things, whole crickets.

no mystery meat there, no doubt about that particular ingredient!

[Aerows]

33. I'm an adventurous diner

and I love tacos, but I just couldn't go there. If they were disguised, and they tasted okay, I would continue eating them even after knowing what they were, but a whole cricket? I'm afraid I just couldn't get over the eww factor.

[unblock]

34. i was once about to try a fish eye when my wife threatened to leave if i did that in front of her!

she can barely stand seeing a whole fish on a plate, me contemplating eating the eye was too much for her.

i'll have to try that on some business trip sometime

[RufusTFirefly]

12. Awaiting responses...

Crickets.

[drm604]

14. Eating insects is actually a good idea.

They can be raised domestically and are a much more efficient source of protein than cattle, pigs, or chickens. Raising them uses less energy, less resources, and less space.

I admit that I find the idea unappetizing, but that's nothing but cultural conditioning. Lots of cultures eat insects.

[840high]

15. Yuck

[KansDem]

16. We're already eating insects...

INSECTS IN FOOD

How many insects did you have for breakfast this morning? The answer may surprise you! Despite advances in pest control technology, it is still not possible to exclude all insects from our food supply. Most agricultural products are already contaminated with insects (or insect products) when they are harvested, and still more gain access during storage.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has adopted Grade Standards designed to protect American consumers from inferior agricultural products. The standards set legal limits for spoilage or contamination due to insects and other agents. The highest grade is "U.S. No. 1".

In order to qualify as U.S. No. 1 Grade, the commodities listed below cannot exceed the following limits of contamination:

Ketchup -- 30 fruit fly eggs per 100 grams
Canned corn -- 2 insect larvae per 100 grams
Blueberries -- 2 maggots per 100 berries
Peanut butter -- 50 insect fragments per 100 grams
Curry powder -- 100 insect fragments per 100 grams
Wheat -- 1% of grains infested
Sesame seed -- 5% of seeds infested
Coffee -- 10% of beans infested

Have some more ketchup with your fries!
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/text18/food.html

[Rozlee]

32. When you're poor, it's not really an option.

I was a change of life baby that came along after my family made it into the lower middle class, but my siblings have described their days of desperate poverty as migrant workers and how my mother used a fine sieve to separate the weevils that were in the flour. They couldn't afford to buy more. They didn't have a refrigerator and if insects, worms or other pests got into the food, they were carefully removed and the food was eaten. Of course they still left behind exoskeletons, parts and waste products, but the poor can never be choosers. Although, it's always a good way to get Salmonella and tapeworm from rat and mouse droppings, among other things.

[NickB79]

39. Harvesting grain on the farm in the fall was eye-opening as a kid

The oats and wheat in the hoppers would be literally MOVING as the grasshoppers and grubs scrambled to crawl to the top.

Into the grain elevators they went!

[Initech]

17. Ew. I'll pass.

[VanillaRhapsody]

19. I am going to have to concur with him ^^^ on this cricket eating business...

[Nye Bevan]

20. Does eating crickets make people chirpy? (nt)

[SoapBox]

23. Soylent Green.

...it's, it's...

PEOPLE!

Ok fine...if they can't afford pretzels or even peanuts, the forget the creepy bug snacks...stupid.

[Bragi]

24. Air Canada has had that for years /nt

[FLPanhandle]

27. Crickets don't taste that bad

Sort of almond tasting.

We used to eat them while hiking and camping.

[ballyhoo]

28. Glad we no longer fly...except

next year we'll have to when we go to Ireland. I hope all carriers are not doing this, else we'll just cancel the trip. World is getting smaller and smaller. Glad to be old.

[olddad56]

29. That bugs me.

[yellowcanine]

30. Don't they do this already? Not to mention "rodent hairs."

FDA Guidelines: Wheat flour may contain 75 insect fragments and 1 rodent hair in every 50 grams.

That cracker or cookie snack just may contain some insect fragments or a rodent hair.

[Rstrstx]

38. I was gonna say..

Judging by the taste of their snacks I thought they'd been doing it for years

[mainer]

31. I'd certainly give it a try. Just to see how it tastes.

This sounds like a fun option for JetBlue to offer.

[flvegan]

36. Those who are upset might want to avoid cochineal and carmine.

If it's added to make something red, chances are you're eating bugs.

Have a nice day.

[freshwest]

37. As a kid, chocolate covered ants and crickets were sold at the beach. My step sister ate 'em.

You could also swim out to small boats off shore who caught and fried shrimp onboard that you ate while standing in the water. Ah, Galveston.

[Mister Nightowl]

40. Preparing us for the effects of global warming. Good for them!

And I'm only half-joking.