As I would visit the local Pet Supplies Store Plus and see customers walk out with bags of crickets, I would never think that I would be one day eating them myself. While it is something I wouldn't think of back then, truth the matter is that we have been consuming crickets for hundreds of years and approximately 80% of the population in the world already consume insects regularly (our Western culture has not seen the benefits of these little insects).

There are two bars that currently have the markets on crickets which are EXO and Chapul. With review of the list of ingredients in their bars, I've come to see that the cricket protein powder is the substitute for the previous soy ingredients. I am happy to see this with the recent evidence of soy in its allergy, inflammation and hormone altering properties. Each of the bars that I tried were an impressive tasty chewing to what I thought was been a crunchy leg and antenna experience. A truly satisfying nutty type flavor which were quite impressive beyond the physiological insect eating barrier.  

There are several ecological thoughts as to why crickets are better for you and the environment which is that cricket needs minimal resources, emit negligible greenhouse effect and conserve our water resources tremendously. It only takes seven weeks for a cricket to mature while 18 to 22 for a cow to be consumed.  Baring the physiologically image of the cricket, they have an impressive amount of complete proteins that are rich and 9 essential acids, healthy fats, B12 vitamin, iron and high levels of dietary fiber. The EXO bar have 7 grams of fiber while the Chapul has just 4 grams. The main ingredient in the bars is cricket protein powder or flour (pulverized critters) which eliminates that leg antenna experience. I was able to demo the samplers were all very good in my opinion with the slightly higher cost than a soy protein bar which I was happily ready to substitute. Cost ranges from $2.70 to $3.00 each which is a very fair price. Know the next time you're in your local pet store and you see that aquarium the crickets, just think that these little guys may one day be in one of your protein bars that have high levels of amino acids, iron B12 and especially fiber. They taste good and of course less filling.