If you’ve been raised in a Western culture, the thought of eating insects probably makes your stomach curdle. Researchers from Portugal think a free sample might be all it takes to change that.
Scientists from the University of Beira Interior recruited 38 adults who had never eaten insect-based food and had them taste both an insect protein bar and a cereal bar while measuring their brain activity and heart rate. Some participants knew what they were eating. Others were told they had a cereal bar when it actually contained insects. The findings were presented at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior’s annual meeting.
The researchers expected disgust. They got curiosity instead. Participants became more attentive and engaged while eating the insect bars, heart rates went up during tasting, and most people said they preferred the insect bar over the cereal bar. That physiological response showed up even when participants had no idea bugs were involved.
“This was really an unexpected result as literature said to us that consumers tend to reject these novel foods,” said lead author Andreia C. B. Ferreira, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Beira Interior. “The results show us the relevance of tasting experiments on promoting this new alternative.”
Americans may have been warming up to this longer than the food industry assumed. A 2021 YouGov survey found 25% were willing to consume insect ingredients, and 18% said they’d go as far as eating whole bugs.
Ashley Gearhardt, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan who wasn’t involved in the research, told Fox News Digital it’s “exciting to see that consumers may be open to new abundant sources of nutrition,” adding that creativity around food sourcing will matter as the century progresses.
The market seems to agree. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global edible insect market is projected to grow from $1.73 billion in 2025 to $13.23 billion by 2034, fueled by interest in sustainable nutrition and alternative protein. Beetles currently hold the largest share at 33%, with yellow mealworms, lesser mealworms, crickets, and grasshoppers rounding out the field.
Bug-based food has already moved past the novelty stage. Chirps Chips has been selling cricket flour tortilla chips for years, and cricket protein powders and snack bars from various brands are increasingly easy to find. Jiminy’s, meanwhile, has been making grain-free dog treats from crickets and grubs, for pet owners who want their dogs eating sustainably too.
Ferreira’s team noted the study was small and that larger, more diverse research is needed. But the early findings are hard to argue with: people are more willing to eat bugs than they think, as long as no one leads with the word “bugs.”
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