Exploring the Possibilities of Incorporating Edible Insects into a Vegetarian Diet: A Survey of Vegetarian Consumer Acceptance

Abstract

Background: Due to environmental, health, and ethical concerns, more consumers are reducing their meat consumption or giving it up entirely. Plant protein is most often chosen as a sustainable source of protein. Still, recently, edible insects have been gaining popularity as a source of alternative protein with a better nutritional profile. However, there is no information on whether vegetarians can accept insects.

Methods: An online survey was conducted with a sample of 790 vegetarians to address this gap. The findings of this survey are crucial in understanding the potential acceptance of insects in vegetarian diets.

Results: We found that 13% of the respondents approve of using processed insect protein in vegetarian dishes. Moreover, 9% of the respondents declared that they had knowingly consumed insects before; of these, 42% of them found the taste of the insects to be neutral, 16% found it to be very good, and 25% found it to be good. The level of insect acceptance was influenced by the type of vegetarian diet and its duration of use. Furthermore, pesca-vegetarians and flexi-vegetarians were the most likely to eat insects for ecological reasons (x¯ = 3.54 ± 0.74; x¯ = 3.00 ± 0.67, respectively).

Conclusions: These findings do not eliminate the possibility of using edible insects in vegetarian diets but support their partial acceptance.

Keywords: edible insects; entomophagy; survey; vegetarians.

Figure 1

Willingness to eat insects. (a) Type of diet vs. willingness to include insects as a source of protein; (b) duration of the diet vs. the willingness to include insects as a source of protein; (c) type of diet vs. willingness to try a meal/product prepared from an insect; (d) duration of the diet vs. willingness to try a meal/product prepared from an insect. Vertical bars indicate 0.95 confidence intervals; ^{A, B, C, ABC, BC, AB} values with different capital letters differ significantly with p = 0.05 (Tukey’s test).

Figure 2

The impact of the ecological nature of insect farming on respondents’ perceptions of it. (a) The belief that the consumption of processed insect protein is more ethical than the consumption of traditional meat vs. the type of diet used; (b) the belief that the consumption of processed insect protein is more ethical than the consumption of traditional meat vs. the duration of the diet; (c) finding that ecological concerns would prompt the inclusion of edible insects as a source of protein vs. the type of diet used; (d) finding that ecological concerns would prompt the inclusion of edible insects as a source of protein vs. the duration of the diet. Vertical bars indicate 0.95 confidence intervals; ^{A, B, C, D, AB, BC, ABC, BCD, CD} values with different capital letters differ significantly with p = 0.05 (Tukey’s test).

Figure 3

The interaction between the duration of the diet, the willingness to include insects in a vegetarian diet, and the perception that the consumption of processed insect protein is more ethical than the consumption of traditional meat. Vertical bars indicate 0.95 confidence intervals.