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Quinnipiac University Class Cooking With Crickets

HAMDEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- Crickets may be the new protein additive.

As WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau reported, Professor Julia Giblin's anthropology students at Quinnipiac University are experimenting by using the insect in recipes they're cooking.

Crickets offer a very good nutritional value. According to Men's Health magazine, four crickets contain as much calcium as a glass of milk, which is good for healthy bones and teeth.

Quinnipiac University Class Cooking With Crickets

While her students did not detect a trace of the insect during a taste test, some did notice a strange odor as the Nestle Toll House cookies baked in the oven.

The class will also try other recipes.

"We'll have some protien bar samples," she said. "We're going to do some smoothies, some sort of health smoothies with insect protein. And we might go for a little exotic stuff, so maybe some chocolate-covered insects."

Giblin said curious nonstudents can do the taste tests themselves, but she advises securing the crickets from a noted entomophagy outlet that specializes in producing insects for consumption.

"There are a lot of pollutants in our urban environments," Giblin said. "And you could get those through the insects if you were just to collect them from your backyard."

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