The University Record, April 15, 1997
Should I, or shouldn’t I . . .?
By Joanne Nesbit
News and Information Services
Seems the biggest thing on the U-M campus isn’t so big after all. Lollipops known as “Cricket Lickits” and hard candy called “InsectNside” are selling more like hotcakes than confections at th e Museum Store at the Exhibit Museum.
Lickits, a green, mint-flavored, sugar-free sweet on a stick, have a real dead cricket embedded inside the clear candy.
“Nobody at first believes it’s a real bug,” says Kelly Sullivan, manager of the Museum Store. “But once they realize that it’s real, they just have to have it for themselves or for a friend or cousin.”
The InsectNsides are mock amber, a clear yellow-orange candy, with bugs encased in the sweet. While the manufacturer says the bugs are edible, neither Sullivan nor her staff have had the courage to try them. The InsectNsides come with either a c ricket, larva, grass or any combination of the three within the sugar, but the supply at the Store usually includes all three in the piece of candy.
“We can’t keep them in stock,” Sullivan said of the candies. “One touring school group bought our entire supply. Even parents who usually don’t buy their kids sugar treats are buying these.”
While some cultures regularly dine on crickets and other insects and grubs, this could be a new taste sensation for the U-M campus.
