Over the last decade, the urgency to find alternative and sustainable protein sources has prompted an exponential increase in the interest in insects as a human food source. Edible insects contribute suitable amounts of energy and protein, fatty acids, and micronutrients to the human diet. Nutritional values of insects can be manipulated to meet specific needs. Edible insects in food-insecure countries can contribute to improving diets and preventing undernutrition. Bioactive compounds in insects may reduce health risks. Food safety risks are low and mainly relate to those of allergenicity. Strategies to overcome barriers to the consumption of insect products include emphasizing their sustainability, increasing their tastiness, and developing the ability to disguise insects in familiar products. A new sector of insects as food and feed is emerging. Major challenges include legislation, lowering prices by automation and cheap substrates, developing insect products that appeal to consumers, and exploring the health benefits.

Insect-based foods may contribute to the consumption of more sustainable diets. Acceptance strategies for children are necessary to integrate insect-based foods into normal diets and lead to significant protein replacement. This study aimed to: (1) pilot the evaluation of insect-based foods in an online classroom; and (2) investigate the effects of exposing school children to educational and tasting interventions on the perception of edible insects and insectbased foods using in-person classrooms. The online classroom (n=220) used a simple intervention design where the perception of insect-based flatbreads and dhal-inspired dish were measured after exposure to the information session and tasting. The in-person classroom intervention (n=65) was composed of a lesson, food tasting, and a question-and-answer session with designated questionnaires. The online classroom response rate decreased as the number of tasks increased during the tasting or cooking sessions. Children participating in the in-person classroom session reported positive post-intervention correlations between agreeing society needing sustainable foods and willingness to consume insects. Awareness initiatives for insect-based foods for regular consumption should advance as opinions and knowledge about sustainability change.

The environmental concerns associated with excess meat consumption have emphasized the need for sustainable alternatives. Edible insects offer a promising alternative due to their environmental efficiency and nutritious profile, but their widespread adoption in Western diets remains a challenge. The objective of the study was to investigate the impact of exposing families (parents and children) to insect-based or plant-based dinner menus on dietary pattern, meat intake, and protein intake over a six-week intervention period. The study was a two-arm randomized equivalence trial comparing an insect-based menu to a plant-based control. Families received either an insect or plant-based menu to replace meat in dinner meals three times a week for six weeks, aiming to replace 20% of their meat protein intake. Dietary changes were assessed through dietary registrations and daily questionnaires. Both adults and children maintained their estimated daily total protein intake, while reducing daily meat protein intake. Neither group met the 20% weekly meat replacement goal. In the insect-based menu group, adults and children reached an average 5.5% and 2.3% weekly meat replacement, respectively. In the plant-based menu group, adults and children replaced 9.0% and 4.3%, respectively. Meat attachment had an effect on meat protein intake. The menus slightly reduced meat protein intake. The weekly frequency of meat meals slightly declined, but portions remained the same. By enhancing insect and plant-based food quality and understanding consumer behavior, insect- and plant-based products have the potential to be a complementary alternative in a sustainable dietary transition without sacrificing nutrition. Clinical trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05156853; clinicaltrials. gov/study/NCT05156853.

Background: Plant- and insect-based foods are promising alternative protein sources. Previous studies have shown that introducing plant-based foods to the diet can reduce meat intake, but no such intervention has explored the effects of insect-based foods. Methods: This study aims to integrate alternative proteins to main meals of 80 Danish families through a 6-week two-arm randomized intervention trial to investigate acceptance, consumption, and potential for meat replacement. The primary outcome is the replacement of dietary meat protein with plant- or insect-based protein from the intervention foods assessed through change in daily meat protein intake, proportion of meat protein to total protein intake, and counts of dinner meals with meat and intervention products. Conclusion: The results of this study will contribute to research in alternative proteins and explore the effects of long-term exposure of meat replacement. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05156853. Registered 24 December 2021

Meeting global targets for healthier and more sustainable diets calls for a substantial reduction of meat consumption in Western nations, especially red and processed meat. This requires a transition to the large-scale production, marketing, and adoption of alternative proteins. The current state of development of new plant- and insect-based foods holds good promise, but optimizing their sensory quality to the point where they can satisfactorily replace everyday meat-eating experiences remains a challenge, demanding a more consumer-oriented approach. This study investigated how Portuguese adults ( , 18-40 years old, 50% female, regular meat eaters) perceived the sensory characteristics of seven Bolognese-style pasta sauces – made with 100% red meat (beef and pork), plant (soya beans or peas) or edible insect (house cricket or yellow mealworm larvae) protein – and how this affected their hedonic preferences for these products. Expectedly, the meat-based sauce was generally the most appreciated. Still, consumers liked all products slightly to moderately apart from mealworm mince. Sensory-mediated disgust affected the evaluations of some insect- and plant-based sauces, while others benefitted from formulations that enhanced savouriness and the prototypical attributes of a tomato pasta sauce. Moreover, the disconfirmation of positive sensory-affective judgements of ‘meatiness’ induced by mince-like texture cues penalized liking. High inter-individual variation in evaluations was observed. Distinct preferences for spiciness, for instance, moderated the effects of meat substitution on product liking, with over half of participants appreciating a mild or a spicy plant-based option more than the typical beef Bolognese. Sociodemographics, Beef Consumption, Healthy Eating Consciousness and Food Disgust Sensitivity were all important predictors of patterns of product liking, pointing out that the type of protein selected is just one of the many factors driving the acceptance of meat substitutes by consumers that can be leveraged by the food industry.

In an era of considerable environmental pressures, edible insects have demonstrated their ability to integrate innovative and sustainable food production methods. Nonetheless, there are clear obstacles to their acceptance, particularly in Western countries. With a view to a longitudinal analysis of the consumption moment, the study’s main goal was to assess how the repeated exposure approach can impact consumer’s liking and sensory perception of different insect-based products. At the same time, these products were compared with commercially available plant-based analogue products, as these types of products can be targeted to the same market. For each group of products, the impact of repeated exposure on participants exposed to the products in a household context was compared with a group of participants who had no intervention at home. This comparative assessment was carried out in a sensory laboratory environment. Five different insect and plant-based products were assessed on a 9-point hedonic scale with open comments to complement the analysis by two panels of 58 participants. Significant differences were found between products throughout the exposure, with most products decreasing the liking scores between exposures. However, no significant differences concerning exposure were identified between the intervention and non-intervention groups. Regarding the evaluation of the samples according to the different exposure groups, it was observed that there was no noticeable impact of exposure on the evaluation of the insect-based products evaluated by the intervention group and the plant-based products tasted by the non-intervention group. This study reinforces the impact of repeated exposure on the overall liking levels of the samples, with valuable findings on sensory perception that can be translated into insect-based product development.