A generation ago, eating insects, worms and scorpions was the stuff of horror films.
Today, creepy crawlies are a trendy ingredient in food. Touting taste, protein benefits — and the fact that 80% of the world eats insects — more and more manufacturers are making bugs, worms and scorpions available to anyone's diet.
尽管在美国尚未普遍消费可食用的昆虫，但如今的消费者更有可能使用虫子制造的产品有机会。尽管包含昆虫的品牌即将到来，但其中一些人做得很好，可以掩盖其越野虫食材。其他产品到达相反的极端，使晚餐或零食时间看起来像是B电影的场景。
In the spirit of Halloween, here are some products that make creepy crawlies consumable.
Entosense
About two years ago, Bill Broadbent's son asked him why Americans don't eat bugs. Broadbent decided it was time for his son to try some.
Now, Broadbent's family runs the largest edible insect marketplace in the United States — if not the world. Atedibleinsects.com该公司总裁的Broadbent试图使每种在美国可承受的昆虫可用。
在这个网站,你可以找到任何东西,从crickets to a cricket crunch bar (made with whole bugs – called the "candy that will make you scream") to grasshopper chapulines to giant scorpions that are the size of a plate.
Broadbent告诉Food Dive：“另一个非常令人恐惧 - 并不令人恐惧，但人们认为这很可怕 - 这就是水蝎子。”但这实际上只是一个大虫子。它只是有了这些大眼睛，像这样的人是因为你只是咬了头。它的味道像南瓜种子。烘焙南瓜子。”
Broadbent said he sells hundreds of pounds of crickets each month, and that insect is by far his best seller. He said there are three main groups that purchase his products: Athletes seeking protein, preppers, and people on the paleo diet. General consumers also buy products for the novelty factor, but can turn into bug believers.
他说：“这是一种全新的口味。”“这是很多人没有意识到的事情之一。他们认为他们会尝到越野车，但不会。。”
Broadbent说，他最喜欢的产品是The Chapulines，他说这很辛辣，让人联想到墨西哥酒吧食品。他的第二个最喜欢的昆虫 - 他没有携带，因为没有农场养育它们 - 是katydids，他说的味道像开心果。
他还为如何准备自己的产品提出了建议。他说，板球是添加到煎蛋和沙拉中的最爱。
"The giant water bug is great to add to soups," he said. "It will give it that roasted pumpkin seed flavor."
Hotlix
In 1990, the California-based candy maker had a new idea: A tequila-flavored lollipop. Larry Peterman, the company’s president, wanted to go all out with the new sucker, and the decision was made to add a worm.
一本杂志发表了一张蠕虫的糖果图片，销售开始了。二十六年后，Hotlix销售棒棒糖，其中包括板球，蝎子，蚂蚁和蠕虫。它还出售其他昆虫糖果，例如巧克力覆盖的虫子和板球小吃，称为crick-tetes和幼虫。
When Hotlix got started with its buggy candy, they were mostly bought by women between 30 and 50 as a joke, Peterman said. Then kids and teens started buying them.
"Right now, it's just about anybody," he told Food Dive. "As far as a target market, there really isn't. It's all over the board. And people who you think wouldn't be interested in them are very interested."
Peterman, whose company goes through about 300,000 worms and 100,000 crickets per week, said that scorpion lollipops are his most popular item. However, he said, the bugs in the candy don't add to the flavor. They add a texture and crunch, but generally the sweet flavor overpowers that of the bug.
Hotlix has done custom lollipops, like one with corn bores for a weed killer company and one using dehydrated escargot in a garlic and butter-flavored lollipop. Peterman's favorite product, however, is not one of his company's signature lollipops.
“我认为板球，如果您将它们浸入巧克力中，它们的味道几乎像套件棒。”
Peterman said he's always looking for new insects to turn into candy. Hotlix's next big product, due to hit store shelves in the spring, is a real-life gummi worm – an earthworm coated in a flexible gummi candy.
Bitty
莱斯利·齐格勒（Leslie Ziegler）和她的朋友梅根·米勒（Megan Miller）成为业务伙伴之前，他们是喜欢冒险食品的朋友。当米勒（Miller）从东南亚旅行回来时，她打电话给齐格勒（Ziegler），对自己吃的美味昆虫赞扬。齐格勒（Ziegler）对与朋友一起烹饪昆虫的想法感到非常热情。
如此小的诞生。大约两年半前，该公司运送了第一批产品。现在，全国近100家商店可用板球面粉，饼干和薯条。
"It is in no way scary," Ziegler told Food Dive. "In fact it is delicious, and better for you than other options."
With a mission to show consumers how good bugs could be, Bitty's first big product was cricket flour cookies.
"No one said no to a cookie," she said. "Everyone would take a little cookie and say, 'Sure, we'll take a cookie. It's just a cookie' They'd try it and say, 'That's really delicious.' "
In August, the company's savory Chiridos chips became available in stores. They've already won accolades, earning one of the top five food trends at the Fancy Food Show last January and being chosen as a finalist for best new snack at Natural Products Expo West in March. Ziegler said that the cricket flour adds a hint of nutty flavor to the products, making it ideal for chips and cookies.
"We don't think it's a trend. We think it's the future," she said.
Bitty's packaging features the outline of an insect's head, but the products look like baked goods. She said that many customers are moms looking to give their children food with the best nutritional profile. With the high protein content of crickets, she said, Bitty's products are something that parents can feel good about giving to their children.
Ziegler said that at one point, they may have encountered consumers who found their cricket-flour foods disgusting. That time has passed, and she said trying leads to buying.
齐格勒说：“我们的品牌非常友好。我们使用鲜艳的色彩，我们当然可以使其访问。我们的产品没有任何问题。”
chirs芯片
College roommates Laura D'Asaro and Rose Wang both spent a semester abroad. D'Asaro went to China and ate fried scorpions, and Wang went to Tanzania, where she ate fried caterpillars.
当他们回到美国时，他们谈到了为什么世界其他地区会吃昆虫，而不是他们的祖国。他们想知道如何将昆虫变成人们想要吃的一种形式。
"The answer was crunchy chips," D'Asaro told Food Dive.
在市场上已经两年的chir吟声是由板球制成的。D'Asaro说，该公司正在与大型天然食品分销商合作，并引起了很多兴奋。整个夏天，该公司与夏令营合作，为300,000名儿童提供了鸣叫。
Aside from eating insects, D'Asaro is a vegetarian. She said bugs are a tasty and sustainable way to get more protein.
“老实说，有很多人对此感到兴奋，” D'Asaro说。“这是虫子与世界。”
