by Dr. Joseph Mercola, Mercola:
Story at-a-glance
- Singapore’s Food Agency (SFA) approved 16 insect species for human consumption in July 2024, allowing the import of insects and insect products for food use, with restaurants planning insect-infused dishes
- Proponents market insects as sustainable and culturally diverse food, with over 2,000 species consumed worldwide. However, historically, insects were mainly eaten for survival, not as delicacies
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- Insect-based products like “cockroach milk” and larvae-derived “Entomilk” are being developed, despite production challenges and potential allergy risks, especially for those with shellfish allergies
- The push for insect consumption is part of a larger “green agenda” promoted by organizations like the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), claiming insects are more sustainable protein sources than traditional livestock
- This movement is part of a globalist agenda to control the food supply, alongside synthetic meats, aiming to replace traditional farming with patented, ultraprocessed foods
Mealworm meatballs, anyone? Or how about a salad with a side of crickets? With the recent changes transpiring in the food industry, it’s highly possible that these will be the food choices you’ll see on restaurant menus in the future.
In Singapore, the movement toward a more insect-inclusive diet is progressing rapidly. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) recently approved the import of insect and insect products for human consumption, set to take effect immediately.1
SFA Approves 16 Insects for Human Consumption
Reports about Singapore planning to add more edible insects and insect products to their food supply actually made news in the last quarter of 2022. It was estimated that by the end of 2023, the SFA would give the green light for 16 types of insects to be approved for human consumption or to be used in animal feed.2
However, the approval was pushed back; it was only on July 8, 2024, when the agency finally gave the go-signal for these insects to be used as food. According to the SFA’s press release:3
“As the insect industry is nascent and insects are a new food item here, [the] SFA has developed the insect regulatory framework, which puts in place guidelines for insects to be approved as food.
With immediate effect, [the] SFA will allow the import of insects and insect products belonging to species that have been assessed to be of low regulatory concern.”
The 16 insect species included in the SFA’s list have different stages of growth — there are adult house crickets (Acheta domesticus) and grasshoppers (Oxya japonica), Superworm beetle mealworms (Zophobas atratus/Zophobas morio) and Whitegrub larvae (Protaetia brevitarsis), and Silk moth pupa and silkworm larvae (Bombyx mori).4
Various insect-containing products are also allowed. “Among the insect products that Singaporean authorities have said can be imported are: insect oil, uncooked pasta with insects as an added ingredient, chocolate and other confectionery containing no more than 20% insect, salted, brined, smoked and dried bee larva, marinated beetle grub, and silkworm pupa,” The Guardian reports.5
Local restaurants are gearing to accommodate these novel products, making notable changes to their menus to attract “more daring” customers. For example, the restaurant House of Seafood is planning a menu with at least 30 insect-infused dishes, which include silkworm- and crispy cricket-garnished sushi and salted egg crab with silkworms.6
Insects Are Touted To Be the ‘Future’ of Food
According to insect-as-food promoters, humans have a long history of eating insects, saying that it isn’t an entirely new concept. They also market it as a sign of innovation and “being hip;” they say that “if you think eating insects is gross, you may be in the cultural minority.”
However, insects are actually being used in some processed foods. In particular, cricket and mealworm flour are used not just in the U.S., but in many countries as well,7 although you couldn’t tell, as they are discreetly mentioned on product labels. For example, if you see “Acheta protein” or “Acheta powder” listed as an ingredient in any product, it means you’re eating cricket protein powder.8
A study reports9 that 2,205 species are being eaten worldwide, across 128 countries, mostly in Asia, Mexico and Africa. “In Thailand, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo and China hundreds of species of insect are consumed, with Brazil, Japan and Cameroon each eating 100 or more species,” according to The Guardian.10
In Canada and the U.S., the edible insect sector is also “rapidly expanding,” driven by consumer demand for sustainable food. According to a 2023 study11 published in the Animal Frontiers journal:
“The [edible insect] sector is now gaining momentum with several primary insect producers across the continent and value chain partners downstream beginning to incorporate insects as a primary ingredient in their products. The number of active insect-based companies is hard to establish considering the high turnover of start-ups (opening and winding down).”
But while humans did historically eat insects, we mainly did so for survival or as a last-resort tactic — not as a delicacy. According to the Smithsonian,12 military survival manuals recommend insects as a “perfect alternative” in the absence of other food options.
