Pepsi now experimenting with ground up insects as a source of protein for its snack products

While it may turn the stomach of consumers in America, PepsiCo is betting that snacks and drinks made with ground up bugs will become the next big thing. Although bug protein is already popular in some parts of the world, it will take some time for the West to adapt to the idea.

Recently, Pepsi — the food company known for its sodas and snacks like Doritos, Cheetos, and Quaker Oats cereal — posted an innovation request on the idea portal Nine Sights looking for novel, sustainable, non-GMO protein sources for usage in their products. The firm noted that the protein source should have a minimal impact on the flavor and texture of the end product, and must be easy to process and handle.

Saying they would like “to achieve a protein level that provides a measurable positive impact for consumers while enabling a comparable consumer experience,” Pepsi’s primary focus is finding a plant-based protein source. Though they are also considering fungi- and insect-based protein.

Furthermore, the request also mentioned that they have already done extensive research on soy, moringa (a protein powder made from dried leaves of the horseradish tree), duckweed, cricket powder, pea protein, single cell protein, and mealworm powder. Additionally, the company wrote that it wishes to avoid usage of dairy, egg, meat, and gelatin sourced protein.

Are insects making their way to your kitchen table?

With the request, PepsiCo addresses the growing consumer shift away from traditional protein sources such as dairy, meat, and fish. In 2016, U.S. sales of foods with alternative proteins totaled $4.9 billion, according to the Plant-Based Foods Association.

Usually used as bird feed or fishing bait, Pepsi isn’t the only one to experiment with baked or fried ground mealworms and other exotic sounding sources of protein, the Daily Mail Online reported.

In 2016, Campbell Soup Co. launched a line of non-dairy, plant-based milk made from pea protein. In the same year, Tyson Foods started a venture capital fund worth $150 million to invest in companies that produce meat substitutes, while General Mills’ VC firm, 301 Inc., invested in meat-alternative companies such as Beyond Meat and Kite Hill. These companies mainly use nuts and other plant proteins in their products.

Speaking to The Epoch Times, Gabi Lewis, co-founder of Exo, a company that makes protein bars with cricket flour, noted that the adoption of insects will be similar to Americans’ experience with sushi.

“Thirty years ago, the idea of eating raw fish was pretty disgusting to most Westerners. … It became more mainstream through the invention of the California roll in Hollywood, when a chef there basically replaced the tuna with avocado and hid the raw fish, making it less obvious,” he said. “We had to create some kind of California roll for insects, and that is where the protein bars come in,” he added.

Jarrod Goldin, the second co-founder of the Ontario-based company Exo, said that their business is booming. Worldwide the demand for insect protein is growing, with the United States as one of their biggest customers. Furthermore, in addition to startups that jumped on the insect trend, big corporations such as Pepsi, Kellogg, Cargill, and Disney are buying the cricket powders for their research and development of new products.

Will these new types of bug protein revolutionize the food world and make their way to your kitchen table soon? Or are they just another trend or food fad? Though PepsiCo hasn’t revealed its plans for the future yet, last year Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi named bugs the go-to snack food of the future. Are you ready for a cricket snack?

Find more news about rising food trends at FoodSupply.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NineSights.NineSigma.com

NYTimes.com

TheEpochTimes.com

Eating clean, unprocessed foods is now a dangerous “cult,” declares idiotic mainstream media (with a little help from the dirty diary industry)

As more people are turning their back to dairy and other processed foods, the National Osteoporosis Society, subsidized by the milk industry, has now declared clean eating to be a dangerous “cult” and “ticking time bomb” that could leave young people with weak bones.

For decades, the milk industry has made us believe that milk is crucial for our health. Most of us have been brought up with the idea our teeth and bones will crumble if we don’t drink three big glasses of calcium-rich milk every day.

Though scientific research has linked milk consumption to cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, heart diseases, allergies, and a host of other diseases, governments and celebrity shills with thick milk mustaches keep telling us that milk is essential to our health. These celebrities, however, forget to tell you that they were paid to make these statements, hiding the dangers lurking behind these hip milk mustaches.

In their latest attempt to push antibiotic- and hormone-rich dairy products onto the people, the mainstream media is spreading fears to spook people into believing healthy dietary choices that reject processed foods are dangerous.

Of all the rumors the fake media, which depends on the advertising money of the dairy industry, has spit into the world, this one breaks all the records. Trying to convince people that eating fresh, whole foods is dangerous is just insane.

Fake media associates poor diet with clean food

People who avoid refined sugar, hormone- and antibiotic-laced milk, and pesticide-laden processed foods have been called “cultists” that jeopardize their health through fashionable diet trends.

“A cult of clean eating is a ‘ticking time bomb’ that could leave young people with weak bones,” the National Osteoporosis Society has warned. “The diets have become increasingly fashionable, and are associated with celebrities, who have boasted how they have cut out gluten, dairy, grains, and refined sugars,” read a recent article published by the Telegraph.

If we believe the National Osteoporosis Society’s survey and the Telegraph’s article — which is nothing more than a propaganda piece for the milk industry — then clean food and people or celebrities promoting this lifestyle are the bad guys, wreaking havoc on your health.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Professor Susan Lanham-New, Clinical Advisor to the National Osteoporosis Society and Professor of Nutrition at the University of Surrey, noted that if there is no urgent action taken to encourage young adults to incorporate all food groups into their diet and avoid clean eating regimes, we are facing a future where broken bones will become the norm.

And it is not just the Telegraph who has been bought by the milk industry to spread this lie. The fake claim has also made the headlines of many other news sources. They all spread the same message, saying dairy products are the best source of calcium and that young people who aren’t consuming substantial amounts of dairy products are putting themselves at risk of developing weak bones and osteoporosis later in life.

They even go as far as to blame social media, blogs, vlogs, and websites such as Natural News for spreading disinformation about dairy and promoting these so-called unhealthy, clean eating diets among the younger generation.

Don’t be fooled by these statements and headlines. Milk isn’t the best source of calcium out there. Many other foods contain as much or even more calcium than milk. Think of foods such as fish, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, and dairy alternatives fortified with calcium.

Don’t let the media fool you, learn more about their fake practices at Faked.news.

Sources include:

Telegraph.co.uk

NaturalNews.com

BBC.com