Cockroach pizza off the menu at Calgary Stampede

Adventurous eaters looking forward to seeing if they can stomach cockroach pizza at this year's Calgary Stampede will be disappointed that the icky insect topping is now off the menu.

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"The vendor is still at the Stampede serving other foods, but unfortunately there will not be cockroach pizza," Stampede spokesperson Jennifer Booth said.

Initially, Booth said the cockroaches were held up at the Canadian border, however she has since discovered there are no restrictions on importing dead cockroaches into this country.

"The vendor did mention he was ordering them through Vietnam, therefore they may have been denied at another country's border."

Rick's Pizza was importing the cockroaches for its midway menu, but the Stampede doesn't know why the shipment was refused entry into the country.

While there is no longer fair food that contains insects, Booth points out that there is still a long list of great options available, including the $100 hot dog called the "dragon dog."

"[It's] probably the craziest thing out there on the Stampede midway right now," she laughed. "It's a lot of different flavours at once."

The foot-long "dragon dog" features a cognac-infused bratwurst smothered in Kobe beef cooked in truffle oil, along with fresh lobster. Its creator, Vancouver-based Dougie Luv of DougieDog, was featured on CBC's Dragon Den.

For those looking for treats that are a little more wallet-friendly but just as delicious, a couple of Calgary companies have earned bragging rights as the best new food on the midway.

A vote held during Thursday night's sneak-a-peek resulted in a tie between Naaco Truck's empanadas chaat and the dulce mini-donut pops created by Family Squeezed Lemonade.