Global pop-up 'Pestaurant' event to serve mealworms and crickets

A special pop-up restaurant concept taking place in cities around the world will challenge squeamish Western palates to tuck into plates of crispy barbecue mealworms, scorpion lollipops and roasted crickets.

It’s called Pestaurant and will be held in a dozen countries including the UK, South Africa, France and the US Wednesday as part of Global Pestaurant Day, a concept created by pest control company Rentokil.

Capitalizing on United Nations recommendations to supplement the world’s unsustainable meat consumption with insects and bugs -- already a food staple in many Asian and African countries -- Rentokil is hosting the pop-up events with local restaurateurs and chefs.

On the Pestaurant menu in Paris, birthplace of haute gastronomy, a food truck parked in the city’s financial district, La Défense, will serve up assorted winged, hard-shelled and antennaed insects in flavors like salt and vinegar and Mexican spices.

Events are also being held in London, Washington DC, Sydney, Dubai and Cape Town.

For years, the UN has been actively trying to promote the consumption of edible beetles, caterpillars and wasps as an alternative source of protein to help offset the rising demand of red meat from burgeoning economies like China and reduce the world’s carbon footprint.

Insects are also touted as a healthy food source as they're rich in protein, B vitamins and minerals like iron, zinc and calcium and low in fat.