From vegan eggs to insect-based treats, Thai researchers are creating alternative healthy food options.
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Read the following story by Suwitcha Chaiyong from Bangkok Post’s Life section. Then, answer the questions that follow.
From vegan eggs to insect-based treats, Thai researchers are creating alternative healthy food options.
As people are increasingly concerned about their health, researchers have developed functional foods which, although they may not sound too delicious, are very good for you.
Here are some of the best examples.
Vegan Eggs
Assoc Prof Yupakanit Puangwerakul at Rangsit University discovered that many people are allergic to eggs. To offer an alternative, she created vegan eggs called Pen Egg. The main raw materials are leftovers from rice processing, such as malt and broken rice.
Pen Egg's vegan eggs are available at the RSU store in Rangsit University at 20 baht each. The product has been well received by vegans and vegetarians, who are the target customers.
"Our vegan and vegetarian customers asked us to add more nutrition to the eggs which is something we can customise by order for individuals or groups. For example, we once received orders from restaurants to produce soft-boiled eggs."
Homkhajorn Instant Soup
Many elderly people have chewing and swallowing problems and a reduced appetite due to old age. To help elderly people to improve their appetite, Asst Prof Varaporn Vittayaporn of Suan Dusit University created kaeng liang and tom kha gai instant soups called Homkhajorn.
"The soups are designed to be low in calories since some elderly people are overweight or have problems with high cholesterol. Elderly people should eat Homkhajorn Instant Soup as one meal and have other types of foods for the remaining meals," she said.
Cricket Ice Cream, Cookies, Pasta and Jelly
Pattraporn Sukkhown and her team at Panyapiwat Institute of Management used crickets – insects like grasshoppers – to make a peptide which contains concentrated protein, antioxidants and essential amino acids.
Pattraporn then decided to use cricket peptide as a food ingredient. She challenged her team to make a sweet product like ice cream into a healthier product.
"Most ice creams contain high levels of sugar and fat but have low protein content. We aimed to create a healthier dessert, so we developed an ice cream called Boosto+ which contains high protein and calcium but is low in fat and is lactose-free. Boosto+ in dark chocolate flavour is sweetened with a sugar substitute, and is available at KetoHouse at Kasetnawamin for 89 baht per cup, as well as on Facebook," said Pattraporn.
Section 1: Choose the correct food from the story: eggs, soup or crickets.
1. Which can help old people? …………….
2. Which can be customised? …………….
3. Which can be bought online? …………….
4. Which is low in fat? …………….
5. Which can avoid allergies? …………..
6. Which should you eat once a day? …………….
Section 2: Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
Another …7… is a cookie called Rocko+, made from jasmine rice flour which is sugar-free and …8… in protein. Pasta is one of the …9… popular cricket-based products because customers do not have to add extra meat to a pasta dish …10… it already contains high protein.
7. __A. desert __B. dessert __C. deserter
8. __A. high __B. large __C. big
9. __A. best __B. most __C. highest
10. __A. but __B. however __C. since
Section 3: Find words that match the following definitions.
11. a person who does not eat food from animals ……………
12. the feeling that you want to eat food ……………
13. the amount of energy released when you eat food ……………
14. something used in place of something else …………
