(The Straits Times 7 Apr 2023)
Sixteen species of insects, such as crickets, silkworms and grasshoppers, will receive the green light from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) for human consumption in the second half of 2023.
The approval of the insects for consumption will be subject to food safety requirements, including treatment processes to kill pathogens and ensuring that they are packed and stored safely to prevent contamination.
SFA told The Straits Times in October 2022 that it had conducted a scientific review and assessed that specific species of insects with a history of human consumption can be eaten, either directly, or made into items such as snacks.
The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has in recent years been promoting insects for human consumption in a bid to feed the world’s growing population in a more affordable and sustainable way. FAO had said that edible insects provide high-quality nutrition, require less feed and emit less greenhouse gases than farmed livestock.
[The above is a partial extract of an original article. For the full article, please visit here.]
