Cockroach milk is the new craze - scientists say it is the next super food

Would you drink cockroach milk if your life depended on it?

Already some Jamaicans have scoffed at the idea of consuming the milk, which according to scientists is rich in protein, fat and sugar, and could be the next super food.

“There must be other things weh can eat or drink other than roach milk, nuh care how good it is and which scientist test it,” Kingston resident Cynthia Brown told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Miguel Clarke, another Kingston resident,  told THE WEEKEND STAR that he would earn from cockroaches than consume their milk.

“Nuff cockroach deh bout. Every day mi kill dem. Mi see man farm all roach so mi would do that but mi nah put that a my mouth. Yuh mad? Man eat all kinda thing still, enuh, but cockroach? Fi wah?” he asked.

Today is being observed worldwide as World Milk Day. Researchers have said the milk of a pregnant cockroach packs more protein than cow's milk.

Professor Marvin Reid told THE WEEKEND STAR that he does not know much about cockroach milk but notes that there are many studies being undertaken to find cheaper foods.

LESSER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

“I know that with the World Health Organisation they have been examining cost-effective solutions to improve dietary quality, especially in areas that are considered lesser developed countries, and one of the strategies involves using proteins in insect. That includes insects that are very common and easy to harvest,” he said.

Reid, the acting director of the Caribbean Institute for Health Research at the University of the West Indies, said the consumption of foods is often linked to the way people are socialised.

“From a stomach perspective, all that it sees is molecules. For the stomach, a protein molecule is a protein molecule irrespective of where it comes from and if it’s easily digestible. From a nutritional standpoint, if it is easily digestible and it has high proportions of essential amino acids, then from that stance we have no reservation in recommending it,” Reid said.

According to USA TODAY, a  retired professor of biology at the University of Iowa said the production of cockroach milk is very time consuming.

"It takes 24 to 48 hours to produce "half of a drop" of cockroach milk," Barbara Stay, a cockroach milk researcher told USA TODAY.

Stay said she never tasted cockroach milk, stating emphatically that: Cow’s milk is good enough for me."