If you are used to a Western diet, chances are you’re grossed out by the idea of eating bugs. However, as pointed out in a recent D News You Tube video, you probably eat them on a near-daily basis. But before you get too disgusted, know that eating bugs is not only perfectly normal, it’s actually healthy as well.

According to D News host Natalia Reagan, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that there is no way to take all of the “filth” out of manufactured and harvested food products.What is filth? Exactly what it sounds like. According to Reagan, insect fragments, grubs, rodent hairs, and even rodent excrement all fall under the FDA’s categorization of “filth.”

Read: Bug Bites: I Ate Insects With Every Meal For A Week

However, according to the FDA’s site, there’s only so much of this that can legally be allowed in our food. For example, the FDA allows around 60 aphids, also known as “plant lice,” per 100 grams of frozen broccoli, and 30 per 100 grams of brussel sprouts. Remember that next Thanksgiving dinner. In addition, everyone’s guilty pleasure of peanut butter is estimated to have about 30 insect fragments per 100 grams, all of which are perfectly legal. And wheat (you know that plant that they make nearly every bread-based product from), can have one rodent hair and 9 mg of rodent excrement per kilogram. Bon appetit!

However, despite the fact that these insect fragments are impossible to avoid, Reagan also points out that they are not exactly bad for us. In fact research has suggested that certain insects, such as crickets, are extremely high in both protein and calcium. Some evolutionary biologists have hypothesized that a high-protein diet of bugs partly contributed to brain growth in our ancient ancestors. In modern times, the United Nations believes that eating bugs could help to curb world hunger.

See Also:

Crickets And Mealworms Are Full Of Protein And Good For The Environment

Why Are We Not Eating Insects? The Psychology Standing Between Westerners And a New, Healthy Diet