Britons get taste for ants as crunch bites

BRITAIN may be tiring of the traditional turkey feast this Christmas, but the bushtucker trial is very much on. Purveyors of edible critters such as scorpions, tarantulas and ants are reporting a boom in sales as television viewers emulate the contestants on I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, the reality programme that ended on Friday.

During the three-week series, celebrities tucked into everything from scorpions on sticks to a crocodile penis. The winner, Joe Swash, 26, a former EastEnders actor, ate a live witchetty grub. Nicola McLean, 25, a model, pondered whether she could become pregnant after eating a kangaroo testicle.

The stomach-churning scenes were watched by more than 10m viewers, and now firms selling insect foods say there has been a big increase in sales.

New in the food hall at Selfridges in London’s West End this weekend is baked tarantula from Cambodia for £15.99. Todd Dalton’s food company, Edible, began air-freighting tarantulas into Britain after discovering that Cambodians had eaten them during the Khmer Rouge famines.

He said: “When insects are cooked their poison becomes non-toxic. We even do chocolate-covered scorpions.”

Nancy Wainscoat, a spokeswoman for Selfridges who sampled the tarantula, said: “I managed a leg but I couldn’t stomach the abdomen. It tasted like what you imagine dirty ground tastes like.”

LazyBoneUK, a website, said sales of its insects had increased by more than 30%. Chris Spratley, its owner, said: “Chocolate ants are our biggest seller.”