I think they're actually not made from paramites at all. It's just a chemical flavor. It happens all the time in modern societies. All that paramite killing was a part of a marketing campaign. You know, just so the people know it's "100% Natural". No actual paramites were ever harmed.
Abe obviously didn't know that it was a lie, and believed the propaganda.
The Headcrabs from Half-Life were also based on facehuggers. I think they're even called that in the game by a character at some point, but it's been a while since I played that game.