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Cockroach milk may be the next superfood

Cockroach Milk - Level 4

It might not sound nice, but cockroach milk could be a new superfood. Insect dairy could soon be in supermarkets. Scientists say insect milk is a good alternative to cow's milk. However, it might be hard for people to accept milk from bugs. Scientists studied the milk from the Pacific Beetle cockroach. They found it was more nutritious than cow's milk. It had more than three times the energy of dairy milk. It was also full of protein.

Milking cockroaches for the human population isn't as easy as milking cows. An alternative is to recreate the milk in a lab, and then mass-produce it in factories. One company has already started selling insect-milk ice cream. It says the milk is, "a sustainable, nature-friendly...delicious, guilt-free dairy alternative of the future". It won't be long before other companies start making food and drinks using milk from insects.

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Cockroach Milk - Level 5

It might not sound nice, but scientists say cockroach milk could be a superfood. Insect dairy could be the next big thing on supermarket shelves. Scientists say insect milk is a great alternative to cow's milk. However, it might be hard for people to put milk from bugs in their diet. Scientists studied the nutritional value of milk from the Pacific Beetle cockroach. They found that the milk was more nutritious than cow's milk. They said cockroach milk had, "more than three times the energy of an equivalent mass of dairy milk". It was also full of amino acids and proteins.

The Pacific Beetle cockroach is the only cockroach known to produce milk. However, milking cockroaches to satisfy the human population clearly isn't as easy as milking cows. An alternative is to reproduce the milk in a lab, and then turn this into large-scale production. A South African company has already started selling insect-milk ice cream. It says the milk is, "a sustainable, nature-friendly, nutritious, lactose-free, delicious, guilt-free dairy alternative of the future". It won't be too long before other companies start making food and drink using insect milk.

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11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Cockroach Milk - Level 6

It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but scientists say cockroach milk could become a new superfood. Insect dairy could be the next big thing on supermarket shelves and in our diets. Scientists say insect milk could be a perfect non-dairy alternative to cow's milk, no matter how hard it might be for people to accept milk from bugs. Scientists studied the nutritional value of the milk from the Pacific Beetle cockroach. They discovered that the milk was much richer in nutrients than dairy milk. Scientists said: "A single crystal [of cockroach milk] is estimated to contain more than three times the energy of an equivalent mass of dairy milk." The crystals were also full of amino acids and proteins.

Most cockroaches do not actually produce milk. The Pacific Beetle cockroach is the only one known to feed milk to its young. However, milking enough cockroaches to satisfy a growing human population clearly isn't as easy as milking cows. An alternative is to try and replicate the milk in a lab using stem cell technology, and then turn this technique into a large-scale industrial process. A South African company called Gourmet Grubb has already started selling insect-milk ice cream. It says the milk is, "a sustainable, nature-friendly, nutritious, lactose-free, delicious, guilt-free dairy alternative of the future". It won't be too long before other companies jump on the bug-milk bandwagon.

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25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson