Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers

Ilga Gedrovica

doi:doi:10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers

Ilga Gedrovica

Published in American Journal of Entomology (Volume 3, Issue 3)

Received: 11 April 2019 Accepted: 11 July 2019 Published: 5 August 2019

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Abstract

In Latvia people usually use animal products (most of all eggs, milk, meat and their products) as protein sources. An online survey was conducted to investigate Latvian consumers’ opinion about insects and larvae as new high-protein food. The questionnaires were filled in by 1,892 respondents speaking in Latvian at the age between 14 and 64, with an average age of 42 years, and gender distribution – 71% females and 29% males. Inhabitants of Latvia (about four fifths of the respondents) know that people are allowed to use both insects and larvae for their diet, however, 35% of all respondents could not mention the exact species of insects and larvae that are fit for human consumption. The grasshoppers and crickets were the most known edible insects for Latvian inhabitants. About a half of the Latvian consumers were not ready to supplement their daily menu with edible insects and larvae though respondents changed their attitudes when they had learned that the use of insects and larvae was important for the future and played an important role in keeping their environment cleaner and more enjoyable. A relatively small number of people were ready to start eating insects at once. In order to adapt this unusual source of protein to the inhabitants of Latvia, insects and larvae must be processed in powder form and presented in such a way that the shape of insects or their any part (leg, wings, horns, etc.) are not visible and there is no indication of the origin of the product.

Published in	American Journal of Entomology (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
Page(s)	56-60
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Edible Insects, Entomophagy, Consumers’ Attitude

References

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[3]	Rumpold, B. A., Schluter, O. K. (2013) Nutritional composition and safety aspects of edible insects. Molecular Nutrition&Food Research 57, 802-823.
[4]	Van Huis, A., Tomberlin, J. K. (2018) Insects as food and feed: from production to consumtion. Wageningen Academic Publishers, 447.
[5]	Janssen, R. H. (2018) Potential of insect proteins for food and feed. Effect of endogenous enzymes and iron-phenolic complexation. Thesis for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University, 146 Aviable at: http://edepot.wur.nl/445811.
[6]	Kourimska, L., Adamkova, A. (2016) Nutrition and sensory quality of edible insects. NFS Journal 4: 22-26.
[7]	Smetana, S., Mathys, A., Knock, A., Heinz, V. (2015) Meat alternatives: life cycle assessment of most known meat substitutes. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 20: 1254-1267.
[8]	Dossey, A. T., Morales-Ramos, J. A., Rojas M. G. (2016) Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients. Production, Processing and Food Applications. Academic Press, 385 Aviable at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeffery_Tomberlin/publication/304714699_Insect_Mass_Production_Technologies/links/59cc8c0aaca272bb050fb291/Insect-Mass-Production-Technologies.pdf.
[9]	Martin, D. (2014) Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet. New Harvest Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, New York, 251.
[10]	Pambo, K. O., Okello, J. J., Mbeche, R., Kinyuru, J. N. (2016) Consumer Acceptance of Edible Insects for Non-Meat Protein in Western Kenya. Aviable at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d839/dc4dbbe677d84d5bb83daf109b1b3862ad0b.pdf.
[11]	Wilkinson, K., Muhlhausler, B., Motley, C., Crump, A., Brau, H., Ankeny, R. (2018) Australian Consumers’ Awareness and Acceptance of Insects as Food. Insects, 9 (2), 44.
[12]	Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (2019) Consumption of food products 2016. Aviable at: https://www.csb.gov.lv/en/statistics/statistics-by-theme/social-conditions/household-budget/key-indicator/consumption-food-products.
[13]	Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (2019) Statistical Yearbook of Latvia 2018. Aviable at: https://www.csb.gov.lv/sites/default/files/publication/2018-12/Nr_01_Latvijas_statistikas_gadagramata_2018_Statistical%20Yearbook%20of%20Latvia_%2818_00%29_LV_EN.pdf.
[14]	Jongema, Y. (2017) Worldwide list of recorded edible insects. Aviable at: https://www.wur.nl/upload_mm/8/a/6/0fdfc700-3929-4a74-8b69-f02fd35a1696_Worldwide%20list%20of%20edible%20insects%202017.pdf.
[15]	Payne, C. L. R., Dobermann, D., Forkes, A., House, J., Josephs, J., McBride, A., Muller, A., Quilliam, R. S., Soares, S. (2016) Insects as food and feed: European perspectives on recent research and future. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed. 2 (4): 269-276 Aviable at: https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/pdf/10.3920/JIFF2016.0011.
[16]	Wendin, K., Norman C., Forsberg, S., Davidsson, F., Josell, A., Langton, M., Prim, M., Berg, J. (2017) Insects as a Culinary Ingredient – Consumer Acceptance and Neophobia. Aviable at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319351086_Insects_as_a_Culinary_Ingredient_-_Consumer_Acceptance_and_Neophobia.

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APA Style

Ilga Gedrovica. (2019). Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers. American Journal of Entomology, 3(3), 56-60. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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Ilga Gedrovica. Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers. Am. J. Entomol. 2019, 3(3), 56-60. doi: 10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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Ilga Gedrovica. Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers. Am J Entomol. 2019;3(3):56-60. doi: 10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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@article{10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11,
  author = {Ilga Gedrovica},
  title = {Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers},
  journal = {American Journal of Entomology},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {56-60},
  doi = {10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aje.20190303.11},
  abstract = {In Latvia people usually use animal products (most of all eggs, milk, meat and their products) as protein sources. An online survey was conducted to investigate Latvian consumers’ opinion about insects and larvae as new high-protein food. The questionnaires were filled in by 1,892 respondents speaking in Latvian at the age between 14 and 64, with an average age of 42 years, and gender distribution – 71% females and 29% males. Inhabitants of Latvia (about four fifths of the respondents) know that people are allowed to use both insects and larvae for their diet, however, 35% of all respondents could not mention the exact species of insects and larvae that are fit for human consumption. The grasshoppers and crickets were the most known edible insects for Latvian inhabitants. About a half of the Latvian consumers were not ready to supplement their daily menu with edible insects and larvae though respondents changed their attitudes when they had learned that the use of insects and larvae was important for the future and played an important role in keeping their environment cleaner and more enjoyable. A relatively small number of people were ready to start eating insects at once. In order to adapt this unusual source of protein to the inhabitants of Latvia, insects and larvae must be processed in powder form and presented in such a way that the shape of insects or their any part (leg, wings, horns, etc.) are not visible and there is no indication of the origin of the product.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers
AU  - Ilga Gedrovica
Y1  - 2019/08/05
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
T2  - American Journal of Entomology
JF  - American Journal of Entomology
JO  - American Journal of Entomology
SP  - 56
EP  - 60
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-0537
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
AB  - In Latvia people usually use animal products (most of all eggs, milk, meat and their products) as protein sources. An online survey was conducted to investigate Latvian consumers’ opinion about insects and larvae as new high-protein food. The questionnaires were filled in by 1,892 respondents speaking in Latvian at the age between 14 and 64, with an average age of 42 years, and gender distribution – 71% females and 29% males. Inhabitants of Latvia (about four fifths of the respondents) know that people are allowed to use both insects and larvae for their diet, however, 35% of all respondents could not mention the exact species of insects and larvae that are fit for human consumption. The grasshoppers and crickets were the most known edible insects for Latvian inhabitants. About a half of the Latvian consumers were not ready to supplement their daily menu with edible insects and larvae though respondents changed their attitudes when they had learned that the use of insects and larvae was important for the future and played an important role in keeping their environment cleaner and more enjoyable. A relatively small number of people were ready to start eating insects at once. In order to adapt this unusual source of protein to the inhabitants of Latvia, insects and larvae must be processed in powder form and presented in such a way that the shape of insects or their any part (leg, wings, horns, etc.) are not visible and there is no indication of the origin of the product.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Ilga Gedrovica

Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Technology, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Ilga Gedrovica. (2019). Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers. American Journal of Entomology, 3(3), 56-60. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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ACS Style

Ilga Gedrovica. Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers. Am. J. Entomol. 2019, 3(3), 56-60. doi: 10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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AMA Style

Ilga Gedrovica. Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers. Am J Entomol. 2019;3(3):56-60. doi: 10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11

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@article{10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11,
  author = {Ilga Gedrovica},
  title = {Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers},
  journal = {American Journal of Entomology},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {56-60},
  doi = {10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aje.20190303.11},
  abstract = {In Latvia people usually use animal products (most of all eggs, milk, meat and their products) as protein sources. An online survey was conducted to investigate Latvian consumers’ opinion about insects and larvae as new high-protein food. The questionnaires were filled in by 1,892 respondents speaking in Latvian at the age between 14 and 64, with an average age of 42 years, and gender distribution – 71% females and 29% males. Inhabitants of Latvia (about four fifths of the respondents) know that people are allowed to use both insects and larvae for their diet, however, 35% of all respondents could not mention the exact species of insects and larvae that are fit for human consumption. The grasshoppers and crickets were the most known edible insects for Latvian inhabitants. About a half of the Latvian consumers were not ready to supplement their daily menu with edible insects and larvae though respondents changed their attitudes when they had learned that the use of insects and larvae was important for the future and played an important role in keeping their environment cleaner and more enjoyable. A relatively small number of people were ready to start eating insects at once. In order to adapt this unusual source of protein to the inhabitants of Latvia, insects and larvae must be processed in powder form and presented in such a way that the shape of insects or their any part (leg, wings, horns, etc.) are not visible and there is no indication of the origin of the product.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Insects as Food - The Opinion of Latvian Consumers
AU  - Ilga Gedrovica
Y1  - 2019/08/05
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
T2  - American Journal of Entomology
JF  - American Journal of Entomology
JO  - American Journal of Entomology
SP  - 56
EP  - 60
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-0537
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aje.20190303.11
AB  - In Latvia people usually use animal products (most of all eggs, milk, meat and their products) as protein sources. An online survey was conducted to investigate Latvian consumers’ opinion about insects and larvae as new high-protein food. The questionnaires were filled in by 1,892 respondents speaking in Latvian at the age between 14 and 64, with an average age of 42 years, and gender distribution – 71% females and 29% males. Inhabitants of Latvia (about four fifths of the respondents) know that people are allowed to use both insects and larvae for their diet, however, 35% of all respondents could not mention the exact species of insects and larvae that are fit for human consumption. The grasshoppers and crickets were the most known edible insects for Latvian inhabitants. About a half of the Latvian consumers were not ready to supplement their daily menu with edible insects and larvae though respondents changed their attitudes when they had learned that the use of insects and larvae was important for the future and played an important role in keeping their environment cleaner and more enjoyable. A relatively small number of people were ready to start eating insects at once. In order to adapt this unusual source of protein to the inhabitants of Latvia, insects and larvae must be processed in powder form and presented in such a way that the shape of insects or their any part (leg, wings, horns, etc.) are not visible and there is no indication of the origin of the product.
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download