Insects as food may sound very dirty to some people, but subconsciously we already eat much more than we think. They are an unavoidable ingredient in many foods and are also used for additives, in the form of colorants or glazing agents. Insect dishes go a step further, but are mentioned as a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to meat from factory farming and would offer a solution to the food shortage, thanks to the high nutritional value and efficient breeding of insects. Insects have long been a source of food on several continents and their use as a delicacy is also well known in Europe. There is a trend in which eating insects is also becoming commonplace for us; insect products are already on the shelves of a number of Dutch and Belgian supermarkets as meat substitutes.
Insects as a food source
Eating insects has long been a well-known phenomenon among residents of the tropics, but in Europe and North America this eating tradition is still relatively unknown and Western consumers still have to get used to the idea of insects in their meals. But consuming insects is certainly not surprising: more than two billion people around the world eat insects such as grasshoppers, mealworms, crickets, caterpillars, ants, bees and wasps. There are about 1,400 insect species worldwide that are edible to humans. Of this, 24% occurs in the Americas, 24% in Asia, 38% in Africa and only 2% in Europe. Edible insects contain a protein content of about 40-70%, which is high compared to many plant foods, such as corn, with a protein content of 10%.
Eating insects changes from exciting and exclusive to everyday and widely available
Insects to eat in the Netherlands are currently mainly available in delicatessens, from wholesalers or via the internet, while Belgium is one of the leaders in Europe in the field of the production of insect dishes. But Dutch supermarkets are also increasingly offering foods made from insects. Supermarket chain Jumbo started this on a small scale at the end of 2014 and various supermarket chains such as Albert Heijn and Lidl followed suit. Nutritious insects, processed in recognizable products, had to make the step as small as possible for consumers, but this turned out to take more time than was initially expected. That is why a number of products have disappeared from the shelves. In 2020, products from the Goodlife brand will still be available at Jumbo and Albert Heijn and during the Future Goods weeks at Lidl supermarket, products from Little Hoppers will be on the shelves.
For people who find it strange to start consuming insects, it can help to know that many foods have been used for years to contain insect products:
Coloring agent E120
Well known and used as a red coloring agent for the glaze of pink cakes and in strawberry yogurt, milkshakes and red M & M’s. This dye, called carmine red, is made from scale insects that live on cacti in Peru and are now specially cultivated on Lanzarote.
Gloss E904
Used as a wax coating on fruit, chocolates and sweets, among other things, it is a secretion product of the small wax scale or commercially bred tree aphid, which mainly occurs in India. Medicines that are resistant to stomach acid, or that have a delayed release thanks to a capsule form, often contain E904 as a coating.
For some foods such as fruits and vegetables, it is impossible to avoid all insect spores. According to official guidelines in the United States, certain products may contain certain maximum amounts of insect components:
- broccoli from the freezer: 60 aphids
- 200 grams of tomato ketchup: 3 fruit fly larvae
- 25 grams curry powder: 100 insect fragments
- 100 grams of canned mushrooms: 74 mites
- 100 grams of fig paste: 13 insect heads
- 100 ram raisins: 34 fruit flies
The average amount of insect fragments is also known for a number of our foods:
- berries: 1 insect
- ground paprika: 300 microscopic insect fragments
- chocolate: 80 microscopic insect fragments
- canned corn: 2-3 mm larva
- cornmeal: 2 insects
- tomato sauce: 30 fly eggs or 2 maggots
- wheat flour: 125 microscopic insect fragments
Insect meals could in the future contribute to solving the global problem of food scarcity and the problem of climate change as a result of intensive livestock farming. Supermarket chain Jumbo states that the sale of insect meals is responding to the trend, whereby people are increasingly consuming these products as a substitute for meat and fish. However, MEP Anja Hazekamp of the Party for the Animals says that insect products should not be promoted as a meat substitute, because insects are not plants. The Netherlands Nutrition Center also places insects in the meat category.
What insect meals are on offer?
Since the autumn of 2014, supermarkets in Belgium have been offering burgers, cutlets and nuggets made from buffalo worms. Some branches of the Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo have introduced insect products on the shelves since the end of 2014 and the range consists of the so-called ‘Buggy Balls,’ made from mealworms, ‘Buggy Burgers’ from buffalo worms and ‘Buggy Crisps’ from waxworms. Albert Heijn sells freeze-dried grasshoppers, which, due to their nutty taste and high protein content, can serve as a substitute in dishes for meat, fish and chicken. Lidl sold Little Hero crunchie mealworms in 2019 during Future Goods week and Little Hoppers crunchie sausage rolls in 2020.
Popularity
A 2014 survey showed that the Dutch are enthusiastic about the idea of insect meals. According to Wageningen professor of insect science Marcel Dicke, 70% of those questioned would definitely try edible insects. Of all respondents, 30% said they certainly did not. After the consumer responded enthusiastically to the introduction of insect products, demand quickly declined and various products were taken off the shelves again. Nevertheless, supermarkets do not rule out a growing popularity in the future.
Because consumers can buy freeze-dried insects, it is also important to provide information about their preparation and processing in dishes, so that the taste is optimal. Chains such as the Sligro target the catering industry and know how to sell these products well, because the customer has knowledge and insight into the tasty preparation and processing.
Initiatives
Burgs Foods is committed to making crickets and grasshoppers part of our daily diet by 2030. This is achieved by, among other things, being involved in the breeding of the animals and providing advice on the taste and quality of insect products. Offering insects that have been processed in a form that consumers already know, such as burgers or sandwiches, also makes these products more accessible. De Krekerij works together with chefs to put products on the map in the catering industry and there are projects to offer Dutch livestock farmers an alternative with grasshopper cultivation. Bagels & Beans has edible insects on the menu and they sprinkle chili mealworms and crickets on their bagels, for example.
When it is possible to replace the often unsavory image that some people have of insects with an image of tasty meals, nothing will stop insect dishes from becoming popular.
Benefits
The nutritional composition is at least as good as that of meat, the proteins are comparable, the fats are even healthier and the minerals better. In addition, insects contain much less harmful substances than meat from a chemical point of view, and they are much cheaper and easier to breed than the traditional animals we use for food. The production of insect meat requires less water and space and the emission of greenhouse gases is much lower than with traditional livestock farming. About 90% of the meat of an insect can be used, while in cows or pigs this is on average only 50%.
Cons
There are a number of things to take into account, as insects should not be eaten raw or overheated, and harmful bacteria can grow on them, just like on regular meat. Wings and legs can cause blockages and grasshoppers are better grown than wild caught because they can store pesticides in their bodies. But who knows, can those pesticides finally be reduced too, with the increase in insect consumption?