At as much as $4,500 per pound, edible birds' nests are among the most expensive foods on the planet.
Made from the saliva of cave-dwelling birds called swiftlets, the nests are dangerous to harvest, laborious to prepare and have, according to traditional Chinese medicine, a long list of health benefits.
Traditionally consumed in soup, edible birds' nests are now being turned into food and drink additives as well as put into cosmetics, say two Chinese researchers who have assessed just what is known about the nutritional and medicinal properties of this expensive, and to Westerners, strange-sounding health food.
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