Health Officials Pooh-Pooh Cicada Ice Cream

​Earlier today Gustavo shared a story about a San Francisco taco purveyor forbidden by the authorities from serving grasshopper tacos.

Meanwhile, CNN reports on a similar story, essentially the same deal: an ice cream shop owner in Missouri thought that his customers might enjoy cicada ice cream. They did. But the health officials there apparently weren't so keen on him making another batch.

The cicada ice cream was served up by Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream in Columbia, Missouri and consisted of brown sugar, butter and bug--and, according to the video below, the cicada pretty much tasted like nuts.

Cicadas, of course, are the scourge of Middle America: big, ugly things that dominate the summer with a buzz so loud it sounds like telephone wires about to explode. This year is supposed to be the worst in 13 since cicadas are going through a birth cycle in which they're coming out of the ground and infesting the Deep South and other hot places. Fun!

You'd think government officials would give a high-five to the people at Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream in Columbia, Missouri, especially since the bugs are rich in protein, but no! As the video above shows, wimpy health officials can't give a real reason why people shouldn't eat cicada ice cream--they just shouldn't, okay? According to the Atlantic:

An environmental health chief at the Columbia County Department of Public Health told the press hat while the code in place "doesn't directly address cicadas," he advised against using them in ice cream.

I guess the whole idea of it all bugged them.

Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook!