Insects are on the menu in Portugal as of today.
DGAV, Portugal’s veterinarian authority, has approved the ‘commercialisation and consumption’ of seven insect species, including the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) and the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera).
The others on the list include the darkling beetle, various types of locust, and mealworms.
These ‘can only be used whole, not alive and/ or crushed’. Parts or extracts of these insects cannot be commercialised.
Giving very little indication of how these insects will end up being used (or even enjoyed) reports today are simply informing that “already this summer Portuguese people could start to find products with insects on supermarket shelves, or even in restaurants…”
According to eatcrickster.com, from which the image was taken, 80% of the world’s population are already very comfortable with eating insects, and have had them as a staple of their diets for generations. They are high in protein and ‘green’ in that they are resource efficient. For more information (click here).
