Who’s afraid of some little old bugs? Certainly not Taylor Swift, who accidentally swallowed her third flying friend during an Eras Tour show in Milan tonight. “I am swallowing a bug,” she declared while sitting at her piano, talking (and coughing) to the crowd, “because there are so many bugs here.”
Swift’s first brush with an unwelcome critter happened at Soldier Field in Chicago, during the US leg of her tour last year, and appeared to open up a can of worms for the star. (Speaking of, earthworms are 65% protein, and considered better than fish or soybeans as a nutritional source!) The second happening was just a few weeks ago, while she performed her second show at London’s Wembley Stadium. Now, she knows the taste of bugs all too well. (I’m sorry, I’m sorry!)
The good news? “It’s safe to eat bugs, and in a lot of cultures they are enjoyed as a good source of protein,” says Keri Gans, MS, RDN, CDN. A study published in a 2022 volume of Advances in Food and Nutrition Research states that crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts—which are regularly eaten in cultures around the world—have an incredibly high protein composition, at 61%.
Gans adds, however, that any bug that comes from the soil should be “cooked first to limit exposure to harmful bacteria.” (Also, those with shellfish allergies should be careful partaking, given the potential of a linked allergy.)
Though this has turned into a repeat occurrence (bug’s version) for Swift, Gans also notes that “eating one bug is not going to make any difference” when it comes to fueling your body for a workout—or, you know, headlining the most popular world tour ever. Too bad, since we know Swift’s fitness routine is one of the toughest out there,