Insect protein a climate friendly alternative to meat, researchers say

Photo / 123RF

RNZ

New research from the University of Helsinki has found substituting animal products for insect protein could reduce global warming.

Researchers modelled different diets to see which would produce the best environmental outcomes while providing high nutrition value.

They found by swapping out regular proteins, such as chicken and red meat, with insects and mycroproetin - which is a naturally occurring fungus - humans could reduce global warming potential and water use by over 80 per cent.

Auckland university PhD candidate Neil Birrell, who researches the use of insects as food, said the new research confirmed we should be eating more insects.

He said the concept of eating insects wasn't new for most New Zealanders, as many had tried the huhu grub.

"I did a questionnaire on insect consumption within New Zealand recently, and we found that of the people who responded, 50 per cent were willing to eat an insect and 59 per cent of people also had already eaten an insect in the past as well.

"Of those people that had eaten an insect in the past, 34 per cent of people would eat insects at least annually.

"So, there's some appetite for insects in New Zealand, however, there are few companies producing insects as food here.

"I don't know whether, necessarily, people are replacing their diet already with these insects. It might just be more of a novelty factor that they're trying them."

Birrell said some restaurants around the country were now serving diners insects, which showed more people were open to trying them.

"They're actually really delicious," he laughed.

"I'm constantly surprised. I've tried about 20 different species of insects and all have different flavours and tastes and different characteristics.

"Some are really crunchy and sort of pop in your mouth, some taste like edamame beans, some taste more like shrimps or prawns.

"There are so many different species - there's between 1500 and 2000 species of insects eaten around the world."

- RNZ