The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cautioned people with seafood allergies to resist the urge to munch on cicadas.
Yep! We have to say it!
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) June 2, 2021
Don't eat #cicadas if you're allergic to seafood as these insects share a family relation to shrimp and lobsters. https://t.co/UBg7CwrObN pic.twitter.com/3qn7czNg53
Cicadas are not harmful to humans, pets, household gardens or crops, but their familial link to shrimp and lobsters mean the would-be crunchy, high-protein snacks places those with known seafood allergies at high risk for suffering adverse reactions, WSOC reported.
David Stukus, a member of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s Medical Scientific Council, told The Washington Post that the absence of hard evidence linking cicada consumption to allergic reactions means the better-safe-than-sorry approach is recommended.
“There’s no good clinical research evaluating the risk of ingesting cicadas for people with shellfish allergies, so we are extrapolating,” he said.
Specifically, Stukus told the outlet that a muscle protein called tropomyosin that triggers shellfish allergies has also been detected in some insects and dust mites. However, handling cicadas and their skeletons does not appear to trigger the adverse reaction, even in people with shellfish allergies, but ingesting them could.
Cicada tacos are such a popular dish for one Virginia restaurant that chef Tobias Padovano told USA Today in May that he sells out of the dish every night it appears on the menu.
“I have not heard a single person say they don’t like them. I’ve seen every plate that comes back with them, and they’ve all been empty,” Padovano told the outlet. “People are incredibly excited about them. They come in and they ask for them.”
Jerome Grant, an etymology professor at the University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture, told the Post that all insects belong to the phylum Arthropoda, referencing their “jointed appendages,” as do shrimp, lobsters and crawfish. The warning, he said, is warranted.
“If you’re allergic to one, there’s a chance you can be allergic to both. It’s better to be safe,” said Grant, who offers his freshman class an annual “Buggy Buffet” to showcase the importance of insects as a viable food source.
Billions of cicadas are currently emerging across 15 East Coast states and Washington, D.C., with the 2021 batch, which has been dormant underground for the past 17 years, deemed Brood X, USA Today reported.
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