Singapore Food Agency set to greenlight 16 insect species for food consumption

SINGAPORE: 16 species of insects, including crickets, silkworm cocoons, and grasshoppers, will soon be approved by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) to be sold locally for food consumption. The public can expect to be able to eat these insects in their dishes from the second half of this year.

The approval comes after SFA launched a public consultation on the regulation of insects and insect products that took place 5 Oct to 4 Dec last year. The report showed that some businesses welcomed the import of edible insects, while some people worried about the safety of eating insects.

SFA pointed out that edible insects that are allowed to be imported into Singapore must meet a series of food safety regulations, including submitting relevant documents to prove that the insects and their products are raised or manufactured in controlled places, have been fully sterilized, and must be handled and packaged in a hygienic manner. and free from pollutants.

In addition, businesses that use insects as ingredients in food products must clearly mark that they do so on the packaging of the product to let consumers know that the food they buy contains insects.

The authorities will also allow silkworm cocoons to be sold locally as food, citing that the product has been approved in Japan and South Korea, and the US Food and Drug Administration has listed it as “generally safe”.

SFA also conducted a comprehensive assessment prior to making its decision, studying practices in the European Union and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand.

It found that insect species that have been recorded as edible can be eaten as food and sold locally as food, but insect species not on the list need to be further before approval. /TISG