16 insect species get green light to be served up on the dinner plate

Fancy some lychee balls with crispy chilli crickets or sushi with superworms? The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on July 8 that it has approved 16 species of insects for consumption.

- Cheryl Tan

The insects include various species of crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, mealworms and silkworms.

For industry players in Singapore, who have been gearing up for this moment by experimenting with and developing new insect-based recipes and products, the approval is a long-awaited one.

SFA began public consultations on the possibility of allowing 16 species of insects for consumption in 2022, The Straits Times reported then.

Insects have been touted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation as a more sustainable alternative to meat, as they have high protein content and produce lower greenhouse gas emissions when farmed.

In April 2023, SFA said it would give the green light for these species to be consumed in the second half of 2023. This deadline was later pushed to the first half of 2024.

Already, at least two industry Singapore-based Future Protein Solutions and Asia Insect Farm Solutions - have decided to call it quits, as the long wait had thrown their business viability into question.

But other firms are persisting with their insect offerings.

Altimate Nutrition and House of Seafood, for instance, hope to roll their products out to the mass market.

Other firms are taking it slow, hoping to introduce insects into consumer diets gradually, such as by incorporating insect powder as an ingredient in protein bars.

Mr Francis Ng, House of Seafood restaurant's chief executive, is cooking up a menu of 30 insect-infused dishes.

Of the 16 approved species, the restaurant will add superworms, crickets and silkworm pupae to some of its seafood dishes, such as salted egg crab.

Prior to the approval, the restaurant had been getting five to six calls daily inquiring about its insect-based dishes, Mr Ng said.

"Many of our customers, especially young people who are under 30 years old, are very daring.

They want to be able to see the whole insect in the dish," he added.