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
Hellbound and Down 