Cicada ice cream bugs health officials in Missouri: Why?

Columbia Missourian/Qi An

(CBS/AP) Cicada-flavored ice cream proved to be a big hit with customers of an ice cream shop in Columbia, Mo. But health officials were so bugged by the stuff that they told the creative thinkers at Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream to cool it.

Sparky's contacted the health department after it sold out of its only batch of the insect-filled snack within hours of its June 1 debut. Employees had collected the bugs in their backyards, then boiled them and coated them in brown sugar and milk chocolate before adding them to the ice cream. What did they do with the wings? Some were removed, but some were left in to give the ice cream a satisfying crunch.

Yum.

Before the shop could prepare another batch, the City of Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services put the entire effort on ice. Seems the agency's cooking temperature guidelines covered beef, chicken, fish, and pork - but not cicadas.

"The food code doesn't directly address cicadas," environmental health manager Gerry Worley said. "We advised against it."

Was that really necessary?

Cicadas are edible, according to the University of Illinois Extension website. In fact, more than 1,400 species of insect have been confirmed as safe to eat, according to Slate.com. But experts on insect-eating (entomophagy) bugs flitting about one's backyard might contain pesticide residues - though it's unclear whether levels would be high enough to harm people who ate them.

What does cicada ice cream taste like? One person who tried compared the insect's flavor to a peanut.

[vengeance187]

The health department did NOT tell them to quit making it. The girl that originally posted the story clarified that her words were twisted and everyone is reporting it as some type of BS ban. They can keep selling it if they want to. They just decided not to. Get your facts straight.

[rf35]

I've tried roast grasshopper and they taste kind of nutty. I imagine cicadas would taste similar. I doubt I would eat the ice cream if they were only boiled, though.

What authority, exactly, does the health department have in this case? The ice cream shop is doing nothing illegal. Just because it isn't specifically allowed, it's therefore prohibited? Great example of government overstepping its usefulness.

[LadyGoodmann]

The health department's job is to enforce the laws and regulations on the books. If they want to ban pesticide residue, we wouldn't be able to eat anything. Maybe they should encourage our government to ban Roundup: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/07/roundup-birth-defects-herbicide-regulators_n_872862.html. Apparently, our government has known it causes birth defects in animals since 1980 and has deliberately allowed Monsanto to produce it and farmers to use it - and kept us in the dark. Follow the money. Besides, I've seen the kitchens the health department gives A ratings to first-hand, and I am not impressed.

[Jhihmoac]

"Have you tried 'Ant Jenny's Surprise' and 'Rocky Roach'?"