Close up cockroach in white cup drink. Photo: ananaline (Getty)
Disclaimer: please make sure you’re not eating during the reading of this article.
I’m from a small midwestern town where eating sushi is considered a dare. A delicacy would be downing the cream from the top of unpasteurized milk. Cheeseburgers and hot dogs are as common as a Prius in L.A. Therefore, the thought of eating cockroaches — or their “milk” — is simply unfathomable. Forget eating raw slugs, there are allegedly some people who are now advocating for drinking the “milk” from a cockroach because of its “health benefits.”
Somehow this story instantly became more relevant: Expert Says Giant Palm-Sized Cockroaches Make ‘Great Pets’ For Kids
Here’s a great video that shows why this special kind of “milk” may have tremendous nutritional value for humans.
Cockroach milk crystals have more than 3x the energy of dairy milk. Seriously.https://t.co/eTfRwKROsA
— AJ+ (@ajplus) July 29, 2016
So, cockroach milk is a real thing, but it’s not so much milk as it is fatty protein crystals the insects use to feed their young.
This tweet from local TV news anchor Gerron Jordan pretty much says it all:
I’ll try to get through this script… no promises. Must be #HumpDay #CockroachMilk #Gross @WVLALocal33 pic.twitter.com/PHoiKge4BW
— Gerron Jordan (@GerronJordan) April 11, 2018
Unbelievably enough, this is also something Marie Claire brought up two years ago. Why they’re mentioning it again, I’m not sure. But it hasn’t stopped some great reaction from the Twittersphere.
You spelled chocolate wrong.
— hil.i.am (@hilaryluros) May 22, 2018
I’m sorry what? pic.twitter.com/JiRhzY8ZaT
— Laura Lee Fulmer (@lauraleefulmer) May 23, 2018
A cockroach what?!? pic.twitter.com/jxBT7UpKLp
— Christina (@klaroline123) May 22, 2018
— Jeff (@5stringTex) May 22, 2018
If I eat a bowl of cereal at your house and find out you gave me Cockroach milk I’m whoopin everybody ass https://t.co/6xpsxE4vaW
— Scottie Drippin aka Papa Drip (@kell2smoove) May 23, 2018
It makes you wonder, who is actually advocating for this nonsense?
Josh Helmuth is a sports reporter in St. Louis who contributes to Mandatory.