Crickets as dog treat.

Cricket flour from Entomo Farms in Norwood now being used by Montreal company to make premium dog treats. Montreal startup Hexa Foods is banking on the belief that their pooches have no such qualms. The company makes premium dog treats with cricket flour from Peterborough County as their primary ingredient.An agronomist who specializes in animal nutrition helped the company develop the recipe for the treats. The crickets hail from Entomo Farms near Norwood, which raises crickets for human and animal consumption. Production is outsourced to St-Hyacinthe-based dog biscuit manufacturer Bio Biscuit.Available in banana-peanut and apple-cranberry flavours, the oven-baked treats have a suggested retail price of $9.99 for 80 grams and $16.99 for 160 grams.Cricket protein is also highly digestible, and the dogs -- that's the true test -- mostly love them. Crickets and mealworms are also being raised for human consumption as a healthy, nutritious alternative to chicken, pork, beef and fish.They emit fewer greenhouse gases and less ammonia than cattle or pigs and need significantly less land and water than cattle rearing. The bugs are roasted and can be consumed whole or ground into a very fine powder for energy bars, chips, cookies, pasta, bread and protein shakes. continue