Foods Full of Insects Insects, a fear well known to many people. Not only is it a common fear, but insects are usually known to indicate lack of sanitation and cleanliness. Studies have shown that the FDA allows a very specific amount of insects or rat hair even in our daily foods. This is well demonstrated in the article "Insect heads, mouse hairs - good appitit" written by journalist Mary Roach. Throughout the article, Roach takes us into the FDA lab to show what can actually be found in our everyday foods. While insects are a common indicator of a lack of cleanliness, they can also be very nutritious to a human. Therefore, there should be no reason why the FDA needs to ban insects in food products. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the article, Roach writes: “…fig paste can contain up to 13 insect heads per 100 grams.” Considering how small most insects are, 13 heads per 100 grams should go completely unnoticed. In addition to going completely unnoticed, insect heads also provide nutritional factors to the being eating the product. In another paragraph, Roach also writes: "...60 thrips are allowed in 100 grams of frozen broccoli..." Again referring to how small thrips are, they once again go completely unnoticed. Finding that thrips are not exactly harmful to the body and could provide other nutritional values ​​is a great shock. Although sometimes insects are simply included in food for inclusion. Some products actually use insects for their true flavor. In the article, Roach states: "...enough aphids ground into a batch of hops, could conceivably make the beer sweeter..." In this quote, the author is testing to see what the bugs would actually taste like on their own . And the response he receives is quite surprising. Hypothetically, if you ground up a bunch of aphids and added them to a drink, it would make the drink a little sweeter due to the sweet fluids the aphids secrete. In another paragraph Roach asks what "a couple dozen beetle larvae" would taste like, the entomologists explaining that this wouldn't really affect the taste of the product. And since some insects can add a delicious flavor to the product, while others do not alter the taste at all, this is another reason why a ban on insects in food products would not be necessary. Ultimately, the so-called “dirt” in everyday food products is not harmful to our being, just as Roach states in his article. Roach also goes on to write how meals prepared with “micro-livestock” can be beneficial to humans. Also stating, "...caterpillars contain as much protein as beef, a fraction of the fat, 10 times the iron, and much more riboflavin and thiamine," to further demonstrate that insects can indeed be beneficial in the long term . Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay For the reasons why insects go unnoticed in our daily foods and can add flavor or not add horrible flavors, and can also be beneficial to our health. There is no reason why the FDA should ban insects in our food products.