The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has approved 16 edible insect species for import and sale in the country. SFA’s Insect Regulatory Framework sets out the guidelines for insects to be approved as food.

Effective immediately, SFA is allowing the following low-risk insects and insect products to be sold as human food or animal feed:

• House cricket
• Banded cricket
• Black cricket
• African migratory locust
• American desert locust
• Grasshopper
• Superworm beetle
• Mealworm
• Lesser mealworm
• Whitegrub
• Giant rhino beetle
• Greater wax moth
• Lesser wax moth
• Silkworm
• Western honeybee.

Edible insects not included on the list of insects determined to be safe for human consumption must be subjected to a food safety assessment before being allowed into or sold in the country as food. Information SFA requires as part of these assessments include details about the growing and processing method, evidence of a history of use in countries other than Singapore, scientific literature supporting the insects’ food safety, and other documentation.

A full list of the requirements for importers and traders of edible insects in Singapore can be found in the official release to industry.