Singapore Approves Edible Insects Amid Food Security Push

SINGAPORE, (REUTERS) – At Singapore’s House of Seafood restaurant, the fish-head curry comes with a side of crunchy crickets, the tofu has bugs crawling out of it and the patrons can’t get enough.

The seaside restaurant is the first eatery to put insects on the menu after the city state’s stringent food authority this month approved for human consumption 16 species ranging from crickets to grasshoppers, grubs and mealworms after two years of deliberation.

Crickets and other insects have long been enjoyed as street food in Southeast Asia, but not in the wealthy financial hub, where food imports come with strict restrictions for safety and hygiene purposes.

In 2019, Singapore declared it was aiming to produce 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030 instead of the current model where 90% of food is imported, and food security expert Paul Teng said insects could certainly help move towards this goal – if people got over “the yuck factor”.

“Most insects are almost all protein,” said Teng, who works at the Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, adding that there needs to be local production to make this alternative protein source affordable.

“Getting people to accept insects in their diet is a challenge. But really, it’s a normal food item. Let’s do something about it to prepare the consumer for it,” he said. “Me personally, I have no problem eating insects.”

The United Nations has deemed bugs a sustainable source of protein to feed a global population estimated to swell to 9.7 billion by 2050 and global food security issues due to extreme weather and conflicts have also increased the interest in the high-quality, economical nutrition that bugs provide.

In Singapore, all insects approved for human consumption must be farmed in a controlled environment and not harvested from the wild, and cannot be fed contaminants like manure or rotten food, according to the food agency.

In tandem, the Food and Agriculture Organization has been promoting the farming of insects for human consumption and animal feed, and there has been local interest in importing insects, but cost remains a barrier for now.

It’s too early to tell if insects will become a feature of the Singapore diet or whether demand will fizzle out as it has for fake meat products.

But for now, some diners say they are happy to develop a taste for bugs.