Food frontiers: Insects as food, is the future already here?

Article type: Review Article

Authors: Marcucci, Caterina^{; *}

Affiliations: Independent researcher

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Caterina Marcucci, MSc. Independent researcher E-mail: cat.marcucci@hotmail.it.

Abstract: Nowadays the current global food model is becoming unsustainable mainly due to the world human population exponential growth and the consequent overexploitation of natural resources used for agriculture and livestock. Therefore, an urgent rethinking of the relationship we have with food resources is needed. Since 2008, FAO has indicated edible insects as food of the future, capable of contributing through its use to the resolution of problems relating to the current global model of food consumption. The use of insects as food and feed on a global scale has health, environmental, economic and social benefits because they have characteristics that make them nutritious, accessible and reared with low environmental impact. From the entry into force in 2018 of the EU regulation n. 2283/2015 concerning novel foods, edible insects have gone from being a probable food of the future to already being part of the present in European countries. Currently there are numerous companies that produce insect-based foods for distribution on the market and entrepreneurial realities and professional figures involved in this trade multiply exponentially. Thus, Westerners will have to begin to familiarize themselves with the idea of insects in general, breaking down prejudices and therefore also undermine the food taboo.

Keywords: Edible insects, insects as food, food of the future, low environmental impact food, unsustainable global food model, novel foods, food resources

DOI: 10.3233/MNM-190348

Journal: Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 43-52, 2020