Bug Buffet

Editor's note: In this weekly feature China Daily gives voice to Asia and its people. The stories presented come mainly from the Asia News Network (ANN), of which China Daily is among its 20 leading titles.

Fancy some lychee balls with crispy chili crickets or sushi with superworms?

The Singapore Food Agency said on July 8 that it has approved 16 species of insects for consumption.

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.

The food agency 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 Organization as a more sustainable alternative to meat, as they have high protein content and produce lower greenhouse gas emissions when farmed.

In April 2023, the food agency 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.

At least two industry players — 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 groups 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 enterprises are taking it slow, hoping to introduce insects into consumer diets gradually, such as by incorporating insect powder as an ingredient in protein bars.