Are you a fan of cookies and ice cream?
Alright, stupid question. But what about cookies with cockroach milk ice cream?
This isn’t a wild, one-off craze – researchers in India have found that the viviparous cockroach manufactures milk three times more calorie-rich than buffalo milk (which in turn has more calories than your standard cow milk). These roaches are dissimilar from others in their species, characterized by giving birth to live young rather than eggs, necessitating the need for milk.
Cockroach milk is yet another hint towards bugs as the food of the future. Don’t be surprised to find people swapping chips for grasshopper snacks, or dousing their Cheerios in cockroach milk rather than cow juice.
Analyzing the substance, the study showed the viviparous roach milk was rich in fat, protein, and was four times more calorific compared to cow’s milk. These are all essential nutrients in the diet and development of a healthy infant.
The female Diploptera punctate emits the milk post-birth, which offspring access through the mother’s intestine. The nutrient-abundant cockroach milk doesn’t resemble cow’s milk.
Researchers are now looking for a way to produce the roach’s milk in higher quantities – presumably for human consumption. Since the taste is reportedly ‘not too bad’, the milk could find its way to your local supermarket.
If creepy crawlers give you the wriggles, don’t sweat it – it’ll takes years to complete the project and study. Plus, you can always turn to good ol’ fashioned cow’s milk.
Photo credit: DONOT6_STUDIO/Shutterstock
