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A new seasoning smells like meat thanks to sugar — and mealworms

New research aims to help people get past the ick of eating insects

mealworms on a table, in a wooden spoon, and in a wooden bowl, surrounded by green leaves

Mealworms are part of what experts call the “big three” of edible insects. New research shows one way to make them more appetizing.

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By Anil Oza

A spoonful of sugar may help the mealworms go down.

Adding sugars to powdered, cooked mealworms creates a seasoning with an appetizing “meatlike” odor, researchers report August 24 at the American Chemical Society fall meeting in Chicago.