Are Insects Considered Meat? (Everything You Need To Know)

Did you want to know if insects are considered meat in our world? Then you’ve come to the right place as I’ll answer this question, then I’ll answer questions that are closely related to the main question, and at the end of the article, I’ll answer three last questions that are related to the main question so make sure you keep reading.

Are insects considered meat? They can be identified as meat because the meat is mostly the muscle tissue of an animal and insects do have muscles in their bodies. This is the case because every insect can move which muscles are essential for.

Can humans eat insects?

Humans can eat insects (which is also called Entomophagy). Especially the eggs, pupae, larvae, and certain adult insect species have been eaten by human beings for pretty much as long as humans exist. They contain many essential nutrients.

Nowadays, insects are eaten all across the world, example places are Asia, New Zealand, or Africa and between 1,000 to 2,000 different species have been consumed by human beings so far.

Check out the video below if you want to see Gordon Ramsay try out fried Tarantulas.

What insects are frequently consumed by humans?

An estimation of edible insects that have been consumed globally will fall between 1,000 to 2,000 different species. The following species are consumed the most by humans:

Beetles (31%).
Butterflies or moths (18%).
Bees, wasps, or ants (14%).
Grasshoppers, locusts, or crickets (13%).
Cicadas, leafhoppers, or planthoppers (10%).

Beetles come out on top of the most frequently consumed insects by humans and I gotta say that this surprises me as eating a beetle wouldn’t be the first insect that I would want to eat.

What does insect meat taste like?

Many people say that insects taste a bit like roasted nuts, and I’ve found that crickets taste like shrimp combined with a nutty taste. Besides these findings, I’ve also read about larvae tasting like mushrooms with a nutty flavor to them.

All in all, though, people will have different meanings about the taste of insects as we’re all human beings with our experiences.

How nutritious are insects?

Compared to meat sources, insects are very nutrient efficient. They consist, for example, of protein, can contain some amounts of Vitamin A, can contain riboflavin, can contain some essential minerals, and can also contain Vitamin B12.

Crickets, for example, consist of only protein and can be compared with the amount of protein that soybeans have. They also contain some Vitamin A, riboflavin, essential minerals, and Vitamin B12.

Locusts on the other hand contain between 8 and 20 milligrams of iron which is pretty much the same as what meat has. So, eating locusts would be an awesome option as well.

And crickets are also great edible options as every 100 grams of crickets contains 12.9 grams of protein.

Are insects safe to eat?

Eating insects is safe for human beings and also a healthy way to reduce pests without using insecticides. I would not recommend eating raw insects though as you want to be sure that possible bacteria will be dead before you eat them.

It’s important to keep in mind though that some people will be allergic to some insects.

Is it common for humans to eat insects?

In Western nations eating insects isn’t that popular and is seen as taboo by many people as well. But at many other places in the world, it is not a taboo and a very popular thing to do, for example, in Asia, South America, Mexico, or Africa.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that insects are already used in a lot of Western foods which you can’t see when you just take a look at the food. This is done to make sure that people will still buy the food. Examples of insects that are commonly eaten by human beings are ants, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, cicadas, and caterpillars.

Many years ago it was more common

You’d imagine that many years ago when humans still had to actively hunt to get food in their bellies, that eating insects to get the necessary nutrients was a nice and easier way than having to hunt down a pig or other delicious animals.

If you can’t get enough of learning about insects then I encourage you to check out the “Insects Category Page” which consists of various articles that give answers to insect-related questions.

What are the benefits of eating insects?

The different benefits of eating insects are:

The food security that they bring.
It’s a natural way of pest harvesting.
It brings benefits to the environment.
It brings benefits to the economy.
It brings nutritional benefits.
It has a big impact on animal agriculture.
It enables a decrease in the usage of land.
It enables a decrease in water usage.
They can be used as different food sources for pets.

Food security

Insects bring more food security to poor countries, they contain essential carbohydrates, are full of protein, contain fats, and also vitamins and minerals that are all essential to humans as well. Also, the cost of animal protein will increase by the year and so will the population of humans which will mean that there will be more demand for animal protein.

Pest harvesting

By eating insects that are considered pests all across the world, a natural solution is created for bringing more balance between insect species. Besides, no pesticides will be needed to obtain the desired result and farmers will also have an easier time harvesting their farms successfully as fewer pests will exist that could destroy their crops.

Benefits for the environment

It’s also important to keep in mind that about 10 times more plant materials are used to produce one kilogram of meat than what’s needed for producing one kilogram of insect meat. Besides this, the amount of water that is needed to create insect meat is only a small fraction of what is needed to create normal meat and there is way less space required to farm insects than it is to farm animals. The difference between how fast traditional livestock and insects grow is another aspect that is important to take into account as insects will grow much faster than traditional livestock can.

Benefits for the economy

The food efficiency of insect meat is greater than that of traditional meat because there won’t be much food needed to fully grow insects as compared to traditional livestock which are warm-blooded animals (which insects are not) and needs to use a significantly greater amount of energy to stay warm. Besides these facts, insects also reproduce faster than traditional livestock which is another great economic benefit.

Nutritional benefits

Many nutritional benefits will take place when switching to insect meat as, for example, crickets are full of protein and also contain all nine essential amino acids that every human being requires.

Impact on animal agriculture

Animal agriculture has a big impact on climate change, the amount of land that is required, air pollution, the reduction of biodiversity, and deforestation. Switching to mainly insect meat will bring huge advantages to all the just mentioned aspects.

Land use will decrease

Lands are mostly used to farm traditional livestock and when we would switch to farming insects instead a lot less space will be required to do so.

Water usage will decrease

The livestock sector is one of the largest water-consuming sectors out there and when switching to insect meat this need for water will significantly decrease.

Alternative food for pets

Insects can be used as a protein source for our beloved pets. Insects can be great benefits for pets when it comes to processing the foods within their bodies, food allergies will be less present, and insect protein sources won’t be recognized easily by the pet’s body which will result in fewer irritational problems.

What are the disadvantages of eating insects?

Common disadvantages of eating insects are:

Food spoilage can happen.
Consumers might have allergic reactions.
The edible insects might be toxic.
A large number of insects have to be killed.

Food spoilage can happen

To prevent food spoilage, edible insects will have to be handled with care as food spoilage will lead to food poisoning which can bring many health disadvantages to us.

Consumers might have allergic reactions

So many people exist in this world which also means that a decent number of human beings will be allergic to certain insects.

The edible insects might be toxic

Insects can become toxic when, for example, pesticides are used on them. If there would, for example, be an outbreak of locusts, and pesticides were used to battle these pests then we wouldn’t be able to eat these kinds of insects any longer.

A large number of insects have to be killed

Killing one pig is to many people, not the same as killing 1000 insects but when it comes to getting the same amounts of protein on the table from both traditional livestock and insects then this example will be closer to the truth. So, would it be worth it killing many insects as compared to one pig to get the same result when we don’t even know yet if insects have consciousness and might experience a crazy amount of suffering and pain?

Can insects replace meat?

Insect meat can replace meat if we want to. Insects are when compared to meat a more sustainable source of protein because less water is used, only a bit of land is required, and feeding doesn’t have to be done a lot either when breeding insects.

It is, however, unlikely that insects will fully replace meat as the majority of people love a piece of meat from time to time.

are-insects-considered-meat-insect-photo

Are insects healthier to eat than meat?

Insect meat isn’t any healthier to eat than meat from, for example, a cow and insects aren’t any unhealthier to eat than meat either. After all, they are all animals, right? So, it for sure makes sense that there any health differences.

That’s also why vegetarians mainly prefer to skip eating insects because they’re animals just like, for example, cows.

Do Chinese people eat insects?

China is one of the largest countries out there that is booming on consuming edible insects. You’ll be able to find a lot of markets that are full of different edible insect options so make sure that you check these out if you happen to visit someday.

In China, they consume a lot of bee larvae, crickets, water beetles, and much more insect species.

Do insects taste good?

This question is hard to answer as everyone’s taste will be different but I’d say yes because large countries like China have a ton of edible insect markets that exist for a reason. Also, if you, in the end, don’t like the taste then you can at least say that you’re an experience richer.

I haven’t tried eating insects myself but someday if the situation pops up, I’ll probably give it a try.

What edible insects are used for industrialized mass production?

Insects that are being used to make mass-produced products are the larvae of lesser mealworms, house crickets, the European migratory locust, and the larvae of mealworms. These insects are selected probably because they provide the best tastes to people.

The Western markets like North America and Europe are not that keen yet on eating a lot of edible insects when compared to the Chinese market. And that’s why certain well-known companies like the Aspire Food Group (United States) produce products like flour or powders in non-recognizable insect form so that consumers won’t be put off by the looks of the products.

Is it okay to eat insects if you’re vegan or vegetarian?

As insects have muscles and muscles are meat, it surely would not be okay to eat bugs if you’re either vegan or a vegetarian. But this is obviously up to you, in the end, if you, for example, don’t consider insects as meat then your best bet would be to skip the cow meat and eat the insect meat.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that insects are used in way more edible products than you might expect so I would advise you to double-check everything that you’re putting in your belly every day if you don’t want to make any mistakes as a vegan or vegetarian.

Conclusion

Now you know that insects can indeed be classified as meat as every insect species will have muscles to move their way through life and because you now also know that meat is mostly the muscle tissue of animals.