Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Jefferson Adams
    Jefferson Adams

    Are Cockroaches the Key to Gluten-free Bread Nirvana?

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Is flour made from the lowly cockroach the new gold-standard for gluten-free baking?

    Are Cockroaches the Key to Gluten-free Bread Nirvana? - Will flour from cockroaches be the future of gluten-free baking? Photo: CC--SiamesePuppy
    Caption: Will flour from cockroaches be the future of gluten-free baking? Photo: CC--SiamesePuppy

    Celiac.com 03/09/2017 - It's cheaper, more nutritious, and properly delicious. Will gluten-free flour made from cockroaches change the way bread is made?

    There's a great article over at Munchies. It's about two scientists from the Federal University of Rio Grande in Brazil, who have developed flour made from ground cockroaches that contains 40 percent more protein than normal wheat flour. Oh, and it happens to be gluten-free. Excited yet? Grossed out?

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
    As part of their research, food engineering students Andressa Lucas and Lauren Menegon discovered a new way of producing cheaper, more nutritious food with the cockroach flour, since it contains a large amount of essential amino acids and some lipids and fatty acids as well—the keys for a balanced and healthy human diet.

    These cockroaches are not the ones we find running or flying in city sewers or drains. They are a particular species, Nauphoeta cinerea, to be precise, and procured from a specialized breeder, where they are hygienically produced and fed on fruits and vegetables to meet all hygiene requirements required by ANVISA, the Brazilian health surveillance agency.

    So, these are certified clean cockroaches, okay? And not only is the flour itself gluten-free, it's extremely high protein. Lucas and Menegon found that a bread containing just 10% cockroach flour presented a protein increase of 49.16 percent, when compared to bread made only with wheat flour. Also, at that ratio, the cockroach flour bread loaves keep the same flavor as their non-insect counterparts.

    So, given the high protein, and the desirable elastic qualities, it seems a natural for someone to test out some gluten-free breads that use cockroach flour. We promise you updates on these and other gluten-free stories. Meantime? Tell us what you think. It obviously sounds gross, but what if cockraoch flour makes good gluten-free bread? Are you in or out?



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Guest Erogo

    Posted

    Very intriguing, they did have issues keeping cricket flour gluten-free due to a grain diet. This seems quite plausible and I would give it a try.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest AV Walters

    Posted

    Many celiacs have concomitant allergies--arising out of leaky gut. If shellfish is one of your allergies, you might want to think twice about insect based flours--their chitin coatings can trigger the same kind of allergic response.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Judy

    NO, NO, NO, NO!! - Ugh!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Maverita

    Posted

    For some of us who are gluten-free with additional food sensitivities and allergies -- how would they guarantee no chitin? Chitin is highly allergenic. I could probably get used to eating bug flour, but not if it was just another allergen. I already can't eat any of the the gluten-free items out there which have soy, or xanthum gum, or peanut oil, or canola oil, or amaranth, or spelt, or anything from the grass family, including bamboo shoots.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Tickmenot

    Posted

    A complete thumbs down on this.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Daryl

    Posted

    I wonder how will the cockroach wheat affect people with a cockroach allergy?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest CINTHIA BAEZ

    Posted

    Hate the idea, NO Thank you I prefer to never eat bread again.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Ryan Michaels

    Posted

    Cockroach flour, I'm in.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Dee

    If you have not, check out a book by Menzel and D'Aluisio, called, "Man Eating Bugs, the Art and Science of Eating Insects", your entire family will love it. If our planet is to survive our inability to self regulate this crazy need to over populate, we will need to find a more sustainable source of protein. Crickets, spiders, ants, grub, there are millions of edibles out there for the taking. Most everyone I know have an eeeuw factor, including myself, but I do want to eat bugs, I would feel less guilty eating bugs than I do chicken. Personally, I would like to eat bugs as a high protein snack food, something less processed than flour for bread. The new chip of the month. Cockroaches have such a bad reputation--could be a hard sell, but I like it! Someone is thinking!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Marci

    Posted

    I'd give roach bread a try. I'm sure that it is at least as good as some of the other gluten free bread that I've eaten, and if it is more nutritious, why not!?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Bebe

    No way. The article turned my stomach.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Gillian

    Posted

    UGH! no thanks, I'll stick with my own home made gluten-free bread which is delicious, contains maize starch,tapioca starch,banana flour and ground flax seed which together pack in quite a few nutrients. Anyway as I see it there is already enough food to feed the world but there is very bad organization which makes industrial nations waste so much and poorer nations die of starvation.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Donate
  • About Me

    Jefferson Adams

    Jefferson Adams is Celiac.com's senior writer and Digital Content Director. He earned his B.A. and M.F.A. at Arizona State University. His articles, essays, poems, stories and book reviews have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and websites, including North American Project, Antioch Review, Caliban, Mississippi Review, Slate, and more. He is the author of more than 2,500 articles on celiac disease. His university coursework includes studies in science, scientific methodology, biology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, logic, and advanced research. He previously devised health and medical content for Colgate, Dove, Pfizer, Sharecare, Walgreens, and more. Jefferson has spoken about celiac disease to the media, including an appearance on the KQED radio show Forum, and is the editor of numerous books, including "Cereal Killers" by Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan, Ed.D.

    >VIEW ALL ARTICLES BY JEFFERSON ADAMS

     


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Related Articles

    Jefferson Adams
    High Protein Gluten-free Flour from Crickets?
    Celiac.com 10/21/2014 - Insects offer one of the most concentrated and efficient forms of protein on the planet, and they are a common food in many parts of the world.
    So, could high-protein flour made out of crickets change the future of gluten-free foods? A San Francisco Bay Area company is looking to make that possibility a reality.
    The company, Bitty Foods, is making flour from slow-roasted crickets that are then milled and combined with tapioca and cassava to make a high-protein flour that is gluten-free. According to the Bitty Foods website, a single cup of cricket flour contains a whopping 28 grams of protein.
    So can Bitty Foods persuade gluten-free consumers to try their high protein gluten-free flour? Only time will tell. In the mean time, stay tuned for more...


    Jefferson Adams
    Celiac.com 01/26/2016 - If the folks at the United Nations have their way, Americans and people around the world will soon be enjoying the health and nutritional benefits of the lowly pulse.
    For the unfamiliar, pulses are the dried, edible seeds of legume plants, which include things like pinto beans, kidney beans and navy beans; dry peas; lentils; and others. Throughout the year, the United Nations will be promoting 2016 as the International Year of Pulses.
    Pulses are already a well-known food staple outside of the developed world. On average, pulses make up nearly 75 percent of the average diet in developing countries. India is the world's largest producer and the largest consumer of pulses. Pakistan, Canada, Burma, Australia and the United States, in that order, are significant...


    Jefferson Adams
    Is Coffee Flour the Future of Gluten-free Baking?
    Celiac.com 12/09/2016 - Can the high fiber waste from coffee production be used to create an environmentally friendly gluten-free flour?
    Coffee cherries are the fat, pulpy coating around the famous coffee bean. When coffee is harvested, the cherry is removed and discarded before the beans are processed and roasted.
    Given that more than 17 billion pounds of coffee beans are harvested, fermented and dried each year, that's a great deal of coffee cherry waste. Too much, in fact, for farmers to merely plow back into their fields, as is commonly done.
    Formulated by former Starbucks executive Dan Belliveau in 2012, coffee flour is transforms that leftover waste into a high quality flour that not only happens to be free of wheat, rye or barley proteins, it happens to have high levels...


  • Recent Activity

    1. - Wheatwacked replied to BoiseNic's topic in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
      8

      Skinesa

    2. - Barcino replied to Barcino's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      1

      Antibodies went up

    3. - Scott Adams replied to jjiillee's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      9

      Daughter waiting for appointment

    4. - Barcino posted a topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      1

      Antibodies went up

    5. - jjiillee replied to jjiillee's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      9

      Daughter waiting for appointment


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      126,312
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Nadia Bruce
    Newest Member
    Nadia Bruce
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.9k
    • Total Posts
      69.3k

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Popular Now

    • Ems10
      7
    • Celiacsugh
    • BoiseNic
      8
  • Popular Articles

    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
  • Upcoming Events

×
×
  • Create New...