One of the largest food manufacturers in Finland has started selling what it claims to be the first bread made of traditional flour, seeds and if you could believe – ground crickets.
The new product, called Sirkkaleipa bread, contains about 70 dried ‘house’ crickets, that have been ground into powder and added to the flour. The insects apparently make up three percent of the loaf’s weight.
“Finns are known to be willing to try new things,” said the head of the Fazer group's bakery division Markus Hellstrom, as cited by the Telegraph.
The price for the new loaf is significantly higher than traditional bread. A 250-gram loaf of Sirkkaleipa costs €3.99, or €16 per kilogram, while a standard loaf of white bread is sold for two euro.
Fazer plans to sell the new product in all 47 of its stores after the Finnish government removed a ban on using crickets as food at the beginning of November. Cricket bread is a good source of protein as insects contain fatty acids, calcium, iron and vitamin B12, according to the producer.
“Mankind needs new and sustainable sources of nutrition. Finns have the most positive attitudes toward insects,” said Juhani Sibakov, the head of the company’s innovation department.