No beef? Here are 16 insect species approved by SFA for food
Fancy some lychee balls with crispy chilli crickets or sushi with superworms?
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on July 8 that it has approved some 16 species of insects for consumption, much to the delight of industry players who have been gearing up for this long-awaited moment.
The insects include various species of crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, mealworms and silkworms.
House of Seafood restaurant’s chief executive Francis Ng is cooking up a menu of 30 insect-infused dishes. Of the 16 approved species, the restaurant will be offering superworms, crickets and silkworm pupae on its menu.
The insects will be added to some of its seafood dishes, such as salted egg crab, for example.
Prior to the approval, the restaurant had been getting five to six calls daily inquiring about its insect-based dishes, and when customers can start ordering them, Mr Ng said.
“Many of our customers, especially young people who are under 30 years old, are very daring. They want to be able to see the whole insect in the dish. So I’m giving them many options to choose from,” he said.
He anticipates that sales from insect-based dishes will increase his revenue by around 30 per cent.
Mr Javier Yip, founder of logistics company Declarators, has set up another business to import insects for sale in Singapore, offering a range of bug snacks from white grub to silkworms, as well as crickets and mealworms.
Insects have been touted by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation as a more sustainable alternative to meat, as they have high protein content and produce less greenhouse gas emissions when farmed.
Having already secured a licence to import these insects to Singapore, Mr Yip is working with farms in China, Thailand and Vietnam to supply these bugs to the local market.
Selling under the brand name InsectYumz, several types of insect snacks will be available for a start, for instance original and tom yum-flavoured crickets and mealworms. There will also be cricket powder, which is a protein powder.
These items will soon be listed on his website and other e-commerce sites, as well as supermarkets and restaurants, he added.
As he runs a logistics company, Mr Yip feels that he has the know-how and ability to import these insects into Singapore.
Asked why he decided to venture into importing insects, Mr Yip said: “I enjoy eating them; in fact, the first time I tried an insect was at a shop in Tampines in the 1990s.”
While the shop has since closed, he hopes to be able to provide these snacks to those who might enjoy them, particularly young people, Mr Yip said.
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