Live maggot cheeses, who is at risk? Culinary recommendations?

[cdmguy]

This Youtube video with famous chef Gordon Ramsey shows how sardinian Casu Marzu cheese is made. It is goat milk cheese that is allowed to incubate fly larvae for three weeks. Ramsey mentions that in rare cases the larvae can tear holes in a diner's intestine. The larvae don't want to be eaten and will try to hop away while someone munches on them.

My questions for you-

How good a food is Casu Marzu cheese nutritionally (saturated fat, calcium, etc)?

Do the maggots add anything nutritionally to the cheese?

What individuals are at risk for perforated intestines due to maggot cheese?

Should american tourists not at risk (if any) take no special precautions when eating it?

What precautions would you advise a patient in either case?

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_-JzM-YQg[/YOUTUBE]

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[kami333]

Don't eat it, it's illegal.

If you want to eat it and are worried about the live maggots, either refrigerate it to kill them or place them in an airtight bag and wait for them to jump off the cheese. If you really want to eat live maggots but are worried about the health risks, then I'm not sure what to say.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Don't eat it, it's illegal.

If you want to eat it and are worried about the live maggots, either refrigerate it to kill them or place them in an airtight bag and wait for them to jump off the cheese. If you really want to eat live maggots but are worried about the health risks, then I'm not sure what to say.

I don't think it's illegal anymore - they found a loophole by virtue of the recipe IIRC.

That being said, I consider myself open-minded about food but I would have some hesitations about eating this..

 

[cdmguy]

Actually I'm interested in the whole intestinal perforation thing. Insect eating could be an up and coming thing, especially with rising animal protein prices. Many cultures regularly eat them and I've seen meal worms in recipes. I never heard of reptiles getting perforated intestines from eating them. Maybe good chewing and normal stomach acid is sufficient to kill them? Could the eggs be resistant to acid? Apparently some may be.

Here's something I found:

In the summer of 1953, an entomologist doing research work at Port Barrow, Alaska, used the aspirator method of collecting small insects. Two months later he began to have severe intermittent fever, shaking chills, frontal headaches, profuse sweats, and pronounced general malaise. These symptoms continued for about four days. A physician who was consulted at the time felt that the patient had flu (93).

Shortly after, the patient spat a large number of insects that came down from the nasopharynx. Incredibly the insects included three adult rove beetles (Staphylinidae), 13 fungus gnat larvae (Boletina birulai), three egg parasitic wasps (Mymaridae), and about 50 spring-tails (Collembola). (The only larvae found were B. birulai, confirming fungus gnat myiasis).

His symptoms were quite prolific - considering how small, insignificant and localised his affliction was. Another interesting point is that even as an entomologist, there is no indication that he perceived or suspected myiasis which may have been partly due to not presenting with symptoms until 2 months after being infected.

This is the only case of fungus gnat myiasis published, which was also included in a review of human myiasis in North America (92).
http://www.morgellonsuk.org.uk/micromyiasis.htm

and in a horse:

There has been reported a case of septic peritonitis due to bot infestation. The larva was embedded deep in the horse's colon which eventually caused perforation of the colon and leakage of intestinal content into the gut. The horse developed acute colic and fever and was euthanatized.

References:
1. Comparison of the efficacy of inactivated combination and modified-live virus vaccines against challenge infection with neuropathogenic equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). Goodman LB, Wagner B, Flaminio MJ, Sussman KH, Metzger SM, Holland R, Osterrieder N. (2006)
2. Septic peritonitis due to colonic perforation associated with aberrant migration of a Gasterophilus intestinalis larva in a horse. Lapointe JM, Celeste C, Villeneuve A.

http://www.gopetsamerica.com/horse/diseases/bots.aspx

So for travellers visiting Sardinia with flu symptoms it might be worth asking them if they tried the cheese.

 

[kami333]

I don't think it's illegal anymore - they found a loophole by virtue of the recipe IIRC.

That being said, I consider myself open-minded about food but I would have some hesitations about eating this..

Looks like you're right, they classified it as a traditional method of preparation.

Sweet, I've always wanted to try it but was worried about getting it when I was reading about it a few years ago. Haven't decided whether I want to try the live maggots though, maybe refrigerated.

I have tried cooked grasshopper though, delicious.

 

[Doctor Strange]

 

[cdmguy]

I think we have to insist on cooking insect exposed foods. Refrigeration kills the larvae but isn't enough to kill any eggs that could be recently laid.

Human or animal ingestion of food-harboring fly eggs can cause intestinal myiasis. Once this food is ingested, the eggs can survive the animal's stomach acid on their way to the intestine, where they will hatch. From there, the larvae can penetrate and implant themselves into the host's organs, causing internal damage such as bacterial infections, sepsis and, if untreated, death. Though the larvae are likely to fall out of the body because they commonly pupate in dry places, anyone experiencing intestinal myiasis should consult a doctor immediately. Intestinal myiasis usually is treated with purgatives or albendazole, a drug used to in the treatment of various worm infestations.

Read more: Risks of Eating Maggots | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_6787004_risks-eating-maggots.html#ixzz2FWwqKJFI

Not a fun way to die. I hope Ramsey doesn't catch anything from eating it. He might end up the Steve Irwin of worm cheese.

Troll?

 

[pineapplepancakes]

Oh no! I live in rural Asia and have eaten maggots in this egg dishes. Should I be worried?

In all seriousness, though, I would probably try that cheese if I had a chance. I'm not sure if I could stomach the live maggots, but I'd at least pick around them. When I ate them before, they'd been cooked inside the egg, so I'm fairly certain they were thoroughly dead. I've also had fried bee larvae...not half bad!

 

[cdmguy]

I did some digging. Nutritionally the only two things humans get from insects that are essential would be vitamin B12 and linoleic acid (vegetable oil fat).

Protein is over rated because humans don't need animal proteins.

http://www.organicvaluerecovery.com/studies/studies_nutrient_content_of_insects.htm

You'd want to cook them as little as possible to get the maximum benefit since the vitamins are damaged by heat. I'd try steaming them.

They probably are best eaten with low starch vegetables. This is the way humans have always eaten insects.

Frying would be a no no because it's high heat and adds linoleic acid fat.

But definitely don't eat them raw, it's taking a risk to eat live maggots and eggs.

 

[Anamine]

 

[cdmguy]

Please shrink pic!

Speak of the devil.

Mealworms an Earth-Friendly Meal

The first crunchy bite of an inch-long fried grasshopper in a chapulines taco is surprisingly palatable. The reddish-brown bug is coated in Oaxacan-style spices that pepper the tongue and enhance the underlying nutty, earthy flavor of the grasshopper itself. Admittedly, the most difficult part of eating the bug is taking that first bite.

Insects: The other, other, other white meat
Maybe the answer to a paleo-vegan compromise? I read an interesting article in Sierra Club Magazine recently, about how insects are not only healthy, they're highly sustainable. Insects are "high in protein, B vitamins, and minerals like iron and zinc, and they're low in fat. Economical too: A pound of feed produces at least five times more cricket protein than beef protein, and while you can eat only about half of a cow, you can eat almost all of a bug." (I don't know whether this cow "feed" is grass or corn; it's probably the latter. Still, I bet crickets are more economical to produce).

What's more, growing insects requires far less land and water and produces no excrement, drawing far less on our resources.

Many people know that insects are considered a delicacy in parts of the world. But reading the paleo blogs, I've found that, not surprisingly, a significant portion of caveman nutrition may have come from insects. The paleo diet is about health -- not re-enactment -- but if it makes sense on so many other levels, why not?

So we have a low cost source of B12, minerals (Fe, Zn and Mg varies by species) and fiber (chintin). I see a lot of insect eating in the future. It already is getting popular in the Netherlands.

I did find a downside however. Meal worms are so high in phosphorus that they block calcium absorption so avoid calcium containing foods when eating them for 2 hours. Locusts actually are a good food for iron (replaces beef) and you don't want to eat that with calcium either. Mealworms have zinc so they are a good replacement for chicken. Here are some recipes. http://www.hollowtop.com/finl_html/mealworms.htm