Latest to join the menu feeding on the fad over novel food experiences are bugs. Korean food makers have caught up in the trend of entomophagy in developing societies integrating insects in processed food and full meal for high-protein diet source.

Jeong Poong Co., a subsidiary of Korean food-making conglomerate Daesang Group, said it has developed ready-made soup out of protein concentrate extracted from edible mealworm, and plans to turn out prototypes within this month before mass production. It would be the first time a Korean company applied insects as an ingredient to processed foodstuffs.

The Gosoae Soup, ready-to-serve soup that Jeong Poong developed as its first food product using edible insects contains 5 percent protein concentrate from mealworms. Anyone willing to have the first go can taste them at the Seoul Agriculture Exposition held at the Children’s Grand Park Zoo in eastern Seoul on May 19. The bug soups will be available in three flavors -pumpkin, mushroom soup and corn.

Insect-eating which has existed from pre-historic times and still common in many Asian and African countries have become trendy in many Western societies as a cheap and sustainable whole food and ingredient source that is high in protein and low in fat.

The soup will hit shop shelves toward the end of the year, said Woo Sang-hwan, Jeong Poong sales and marketing chief. And the taste? Woo claims it is actually tastier than typical soup made out of standard powder.

The company is already onto the next menu - pasta sauce using mealworm oil that can augment the flavor of olive oil-garlic Aglio e Olio pasta recipe. Insects are rich in protein as 100 grams of mealworm contains about 50 grams of protein, more than doubling 21 grams of protein contained in a beef slice of the same weight. The company plans to introduce ready-made food for patients using edible insects.

By Lee Sae-bom

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