Frequently Asked Questions

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    Why would I want to eat crickets?
    Well, probably because crickets are a tasty, high protein, vitamin B-12 packed, lowfat, environmentally sustainable snack. Also our cricket powder is a versatile ingredient that can boost the protein and nutritional value of all kinds of foods you make at home. Did I mention crickets are drastically more environmentally sustainable than traditional livestock? (see infographs on our Knowledge Center page comparing water use, land use, greenhouse gas emissions and feed conversion).
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    What do crickets taste like?
    Most people say that crickets taste a bit nutty. Personally I think they have a slight savory flavor as well.
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    What do your crickets eat?
    Our crickets eat vegetables and a Non-GMO high quality grain flour mixture of rice bran, broken mill rice, sweet corn and full fat soybeans. All food for the crickets is Non-GMO and produced chemical free.
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    Are there other edible insects?
    Absolutely! Quite a few actually. Crickets are just the gateway bug! The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates close to 1500 species of edible insects. Termites and grasshoppers have some of the highest protein where beetles have higher fat content. We may be a ways off from eating wasps or butterflies even though many of them are edible too. For now let’s eat crickets!
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    Why are crickets a potential shellfish allergen?
    Crickets and shellfish are actually closely related, and both fall under the classification “arthropod”. Arthropods have an exoskeleton and a segmented body. It is possible that the chitin in the exoskeleton of the crickets is what can trigger a shellfish allergy.
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    How do I eat Crickets?
    Well, the easiest way is to munch down on some of our “CrickEATS!”, which are deliciously flavored, whole dry roasted crickets ready to eat right outta the bag. Personally I love throwing a handfull on top of some soup or like croutons on a salad, it’s an easy way to add 10 more grams of protein and your daily dose of vitamin B-12 plus a really nice texture. If you’re not yet ready to go the whole dry roasted cricket route you can incorporate our cricket powder into foods you make at home. Try adding a tablespoon to some beans or rice or maybe mixed in with some guacamole or hummus (cricket hummus is one of my faves). You can also substitute a bit of cricket powder for flour in your bread or cookie recipes (start with 10% cricket powder at most and adjust recipe from there). Can also just sprinkle some cricket powder on soup or salad for those added nutritional benefits. If you’re a smoothie kind of person you can add a tablespoon to your favorite smoothie recipe.(adjust amount as necessary for flavor).Really the possibilities are endless. These are just a few ways I’ve incorporated crickets into mydiet, but I hear of creative new ways to eat crickets all the time.
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    What’s “Entomophagy”?
    Entomophagy is: the act of eating insects, especially by humans.
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    How do you kill the crickets?
    Once the crickets have been collected from their main living area they are placed into large coolers. As their body temperature drops the crickets go into “diapause”, a state of significantly reduced metabolism similar to hibernation. From there the crickets are frozen at which time they die. (the crickets are harvested about one week before they would die naturally)
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    How many grams of protein are in a serving of crickets?
    Evolution Ranch crickets are 64% protein by weight. Which means that: one serving of our cricket powder (2 Tbs/16g) = 10 grams protein one serving of our Naked or Simply Salty CrickEATS! (.8oz/24g) = 15 grams protein one serving of our Beyond Buffalo Wings or Chirpotle Lime CrickEATS! (.8oz/24g) = 13 grams protein
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    Are your crickets organic?
    At this time we cannot say that our crickets are organic. What we can say is that our crickets eat a Non-GMO high quality grain flour mixture of rice bran, broken mill rice, sweet corn and full fat soybeans. All food for the crickets is Non-GMO and produced chemical free. Nearly all other ingredients we use to flavor the crickets are organic.
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    Do vegetarians eat crickets?
    I get this question quite a lot and it’s a little harder to answer than you might think. The quick answer is, maybe? The exact answer is a conversation that is case specific. I usually begin with, “That depends on the reason for being vegetarian”. Are you a vegetarian that doesn’t eat animals or animal products? ~Then you’ll have to assess whether insects fall under that category. Are you a vegetarian for health reasons? ~Learn about and consider the nutritional benefits of crickets and decide if they are right for you. (If your eating a vegetarian diet, note that 1 serving of crickets has all of your B-12 requirement for the day!) Are you vegetarian because you don’t want to contribute to the ill treatment of many commercially raised livestock? ~Then you’ll have to decide how you feel about the farming practice and harvesting process of crickets. (see: How do you kill the crickets? Above)
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    How many crickets are in a pound of cricket powder?
    There’s not an exact answer to this question but it takes about 2000 crickets to make a pound of cricket powder.
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    What are Pre-biotics?
    You know that probiotics are the beneficial bacteria in your gut, well, prebiotics are the nutrients that those probiotics need to thrive. You can take a capsule that has a billion live beneficial bacteria in it, but, if there aren’t proper amounts of prebiotics present in your gut than many, if not most, of those probiotics will pass through your digestive tract never having achieved their goal of providing you healthy digestion and boosting your immune system. A crickets exoskeleton is made out of Chitin (pronounced Kai-tin) which, you guessed it, is a prebiotic fiber.