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In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published a report titled Edible Insects: Future Prospects of Insects as Food and Feed.¹ Despite being downloaded over seven million times and receiving widespread publicity, the report did not generate much controversy. This was likely because the consumption of insects was seen as an unfamiliar practice associated with developing countries in the tropics, and the idea of incorporating bugs into Western diets was just not taken seriously. However, that perception has been changing recently. Several edible insect products have been declared safe by international and national food safety organizations in Western countries. In response, critical coverage has emerged on social media, claiming that edible insects pose a threat to public health and even to national identities.

Here are a few examples of how some politicians and journalists reacted to the legalization of insects as food:

• A senator from the Republican party in France warned the Senate on January 25, 2024 that French people would be led to “eat insects without their knowledge.”²
• The Hungarian agriculture minister warned that “traditional eating habits may be in danger.”²
• A former interior minister and leader of the ABV party in Bulgaria described allowing insects in food as a “crime against Europe” and claimed it showed a “readiness to kill our European children.”²
• In 2023, the Italian agricultural minister said of the use of edible insects to make traditional dishes such as pasta and pizza, “it’s fundamental that these flours are not confused with food made in Italy.”³
• In the Netherlands in 2023, a member of parliament posted on social media that “we will not eat the bugs,” while seen pouring mealworms from a bag onto the ground.⁴
• In the UK, a news article read, “Regulations are imposed (not debated) by the European Commission. In this case, the powdered bug was imposed into the food chain of around half a billion people without debate.”⁵
• In the U.S., a newspaper article warned, “Biden admin shells out taxpayer dollars on getting Americans to eat trash-fed bugs.”⁶

This aversion has been connected to conspiratorial claims about a shadowy global elite that aims to control the world’s population. The World Economic Forum (Davos) has been singled out, with claims that elites such as heads of state and business leaders want people to eat bugs instead of meat to combat food insecurity.⁷

The main narratives surrounding these claims include:

• The European Union is forcing its citizens to eat insects against their will.
• Insects are poisonous.
• Insect-derived ingredients are added to food because of the dramatic consequences of sanctions imposed on Russia in light of the war in Ukraine.⁸

Is there any truth to such allegations? These claims are largely false. Since 2021, several insect products have been approved in the European Union as safe for human consumption,⁹ but there is no mandate forcing citizens to eat them. The safety of these products is ensured through rigorous testing by food safety organizations. Additionally, the move towards including insects in the food supply is motivated by concerns about sustainability and food security, rather than by sanctions against Russia. So, why is there such significant resistance to eating insects?

Why are we reluctant to accept insects as food?

The numerous statements by politicians and journalists quoted above, and similar sentiments shared by the public, are primarily rooted¹⁰ in two underlying reasons:

1. Food Neophobia: The reluctance to eat (or the avoidance of) new foods.
2. Disgust: The instinctual avoidance of food considered potentially to cause death or disease and because “creepy-crawly” things are, well, disgusting.

Although these are closely related, disgust is the more significant barrier to acceptance of insect consumption. Food neophobia can be mitigated with information about the food item’s nutritional value, safety, and sustainability. Disgust is harder to overcome as it is based on emotion rather than rationality.¹¹ A related reason why insects are not commonly eaten in the Western world is their association with dirt, death, disease, and contamination.

Food Safety and Nutritional Value

The assumption by Westerners that insects cannot be eaten and are merely survival food in tropical countries is more of a bias than a fact. In tropical regions, over 1,500 insect species are consumed because the local population considers them nutritious, tasty, and easy to procure, rather than solely due to low living standards. In North America and Europe, insects have not been a customary food item primarily because they are not available in sufficient quantities to be considered food. In contrast, in tropical regions, larger insects are available year-round and can be easily harvested due to their tendency to occur in clumped distributions. Insects do occasionally appear in large numbers in temperate zones—for example, in the U.S., the 2024 simultaneous emergence of 13- and 17-year cycle cicadas, which happens only once every 221 years, sparked interest in using them as food.¹² Historically, until the mid-1900s insects such as cockchafers were both a common pest and a delicacy in France and Germany.¹³

To make edible insects available in Western markets, they need to be reared under controlled conditions on farms. For human consumption, species such as mealworms, crickets, and locusts are used, while fly species such as the black soldier fly are used for animal feed because they can be reared on various organic side streams. And there’s an additional benefit: with 30 percent of food and agricultural produce going to waste,¹⁴ using these fly species could contribute to a self-sustaining economy. The market for edible insects as animal feed is expected to grow from about $7 billion in 2023 to $116 billion by 2033.¹⁵ This growth is being driven by the increasing prices for conventional feed ingredients such as fishmeal and soybean meal, whose sustainability is in question.¹⁶ Most insect-based ingredients are used as feed for animals (pets, fish, chickens, and pigs), while insects for human consumption remain a niche market, expected to grow from $650 million in 2023 to over $1 billion by 2033.¹⁷

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories often highlight the perceived food safety risks associated with consuming insects. The European Union requires that any insect intended for food first must be screened by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This rigorous process takes considerable time and thoroughly evaluates all aspects of food safety. While several insect products have been approved, they carry a warning regarding allergies. Individuals allergic to seafood or house dust mites should be cautious due to potential cross-reactivity, as these groups are taxonomically similar to insects. Consequently, this risk must be shown on the product label, along with a clear statement that the product contains insects.

Conspiracy theories also mention the alleged danger of consuming chitin, the material composing the exoskeleton of insects. Chitin can be present in food products containing whole insects, as the processing methods—decontamination, drying, and grinding—do not remove it. However, when insect protein (meal) is used, it is often separated from fats and chitin. Even when chitin is present, it is unlikely to be harmful and may even offer health benefits.^{18, 19} Insect products are rich in antioxidants and essential minerals such as zinc and iron, which are often deficient in large segments of the human population, and can cause conditions such as anemia.

It is challenging to provide general numbers regarding nutritional value of insects, because they depend on various factors such as the insects’ diet and other biotic and abiotic elements. However, insect products are generally as nutritious as, or even more nutritious than, meat products.²⁰

Are insects the future of food?

There are many misconceptions about the use of edible insects, often reinforced by negative associations. Insects provide crucial ecosystem services, such as pollination, valued at over 150 billion U.S. dollars—10 percent of the value of global agricultural production for human consumption.²¹ Additionally, insects play important roles as decomposers and in the biocontrol of agricultural pests. Many bird species, including chickens, as well as various fish species, naturally consume insects. Non-human primates also eat insects, as do hundreds of millions of people worldwide in tropical regions.²²

This article appeared in Skeptic magazine 29.3
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The publication of the 2013 edition of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Statistical Yearbook triggered enormous publicity by highlighting the environmental benefits, nutritional value, and safety of using insects as food and feed. This coincided with increasing awareness that changes in our food habits were necessary. Eighty percent of all agricultural land worldwide is used to produce dairy and meat products.²³ It is estimated that this land area will not be enough to satisfy the increasing demand for these products due to the growing world population and improving living standards. Additionally, the environmental impact of meat and dairy production is substantial, accounting for about 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions and almost two-thirds of all ammonia emissions.²⁴ Water and land use requirements are also very high. Farming edible insects is environmentally better on all fronts, while their nutritional values are similar to those of conventional meats.²⁵

The idea of eating insects is gradually gaining traction in Western countries. Strategies such as targeting more adventurous eaters, incorporating insect ingredients into familiar products, and providing information about food safety, nutrition, and sustainability may help shift public perception and gradually convince more people that insects deserve a place on the menu.²⁶

Resistance to this new food is not unexpected, given that insects have never been considered a regular food ingredient in the West. But if insect products are proven to be safe, nutritious, tasty, and more sustainable than meat, perhaps we should reconsider our food habits?