Posted on 07/24/2026 12:24:57 PM PDT by Libloather
The owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant in South Korea is facing up to a year in jail and a fine of roughly $13,510 after the eatery allegedly served ants atop its sorbets.
The proprietor of the Seoul restaurant, not identified in court documents, acknowledged serving ants, which are not among the insect species approved for human consumption under South Korea’s Food Sanitation Act. The law approves 10 other insect species for human consumption — but not ants, the BBC reported.
The country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety discovered the violation through customers’ social media posts and online reviews mentioning ants, according to reports.
Grasshoppers, mealworms, silkworm pupae, locusts and two-spotted crickets are among the insects the government has approved as food, based on health and nutrition criteria.
Prosecutors allege the ants served at the restaurant contained heavy metal levels up to 55 times the maximum limit allowed for other edible insects.
They accuse the restaurant of importing dried ants and using approximately 49,000 of them in dishes since 2021.
Defense attorneys disputed that figure, according to The Chosun Daily.
Ants were offered as an optional garnish for the sorbet, the restaurant owner’s defense argued, and only 60% of diners chose them over other options, including fermented vinegar and edible flowers, the South Korean newspaper reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Ants are from the family Formicidae. That smell that an ant gives off is from the Formic acid in their body.
Ok, just one questio ... Who counted the 49,000 ants?
Sorbet is just fancy sherbet. Who hates ice cream?
I never eat out you can’t trust it anymore
“Sorbet is just fancy sherbet.”
In fancy restaurants it’s used to clear the palate between courses. Sprinkling with spicy ants would sure do the trick.
12 to a pack. Like eggs.
I never eat out you can’t trust it anymore
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Totally agree.
Is that an old picture of Nancy Mace, served Mogen David Concord Wine at her 8 year Birthday Party?
I am kind of omnivorous and like to try exotic food.
To be honest, bugs, if properly prepared, are quite tasty.
However, they are actually quite expensive.
A little ant is not too much of a nutrition, and never will.
I just do not see that world nutrition problems can be solved by eating bugs.
Bugs are more like novelty, garnish or little snack, not really major food source.
>> In fancy restaurants it’s used to clear the palate between courses. Sprinkling with spicy ants would sure do the trick. <<
It’d clear more than just my palate.
Ah, thank goodness for Google Lens. Nice. That’s the “traumatized little girl” from Them. A movie about giant ants. (I saw it when I was a kid, but didn’t remember her.)
THEM! (old movie featuring giant ants)
Also Empire of the Ants
Let us not forget ‘Phase IV’.
My favorite ant movie.
I have a magical system that turns plants and bugs in to protein.....
My two ginger cats like ‘em fresh caught.
I would eat them and take pictures of it.
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