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Edible Insects in the Food Sector

Methods, Current Applications and Perspectives

  • Explores the current state of entomophagy, including nutritional qualities, sensory properties, consumer preferences, food neophobia, and willingness-to-pay for insect-fed animals
  • Provides case studies on timely topics such as health risks and allergies for human consumption, final meat quality of animals fed with insects, the legislative framework for the commercialization of this novel food, and other relevant issues
  • Identifies knowledge gaps to inform better plan, develop and implement future research studies on edible insects as a sustainable source of food

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
  2. Insects as Food in the Global North – The Evolution of the Entomophagy Movement

    • Charlotte Payne, Rudy Caparros Megido, Darja Dobermann, Francis Frédéric, Marianne Shockley, Giovanni Sogari
    Pages 11-26
  3. How to Measure Consumers Acceptance Towards Edible Insects? – A Scoping Review About Methodological Approaches

    • Giovanni Sogari, Davide Menozzi, Christina Hartmann, Cristina Mora
    Pages 27-44
  4. Sensory and Consumer Perspectives on Edible Insects

    • Luís Miguel Cunha, José Carlos Ribeiro
    Pages 57-71
  5. Quality and Consumer Acceptance of Products from Insect-Fed Animals

    • Laura Gasco, Ilaria Biasato, Sihem Dabbou, Achille Schiavone, Francesco Gai
    Pages 73-86
  6. Potential Allergenic Risks of Entomophagy

    • José Carlos Ribeiro, Luís Miguel Cunha, Bernardo Sousa-Pinto, João Fonseca
    Pages 87-104
  7. Insects as Food: The Legal Framework

    • Francesca Lotta
    Pages 105-118
  8. Back Matter

    Pages 119-120

About this book

This book explores one of the most discussed and investigated novel foods in recent years: edible insects. The increasing demand for alternative protein sources worldwide had led the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to promote the potential of using insects both for feed and food, establishing a program called “Edible Insects.” Although several social, environmental, and nutritional benefits of the use of insects in the human diet have been identified, the majority of the population in Western countries rejects the idea of adopting insects as food, predominantly for cultural reasons.

Nevertheless, international interest in promoting the consumption of insects has grown significantly, mainly in North America and Europe. This trend is mostly due to increasing attention and involvement from the scientific network and the food and feed industries, as well as governments and their constituents.

The book explores the current state of entomophagy and identifies knowledge gaps to inform primary research institutions, students, members of the private sector, and policymakers to better plan, develop, and implement future research studies on edible insects as a sustainable source of food. The case studies and issues presented in this book cover highly up-to-date topics such as aspects of safety and allergies for human consumption, final meat quality of animals fed with insects, the legislative framework for the commercialization of this novel food, and other relevant issues.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Giovanni Sogari, Cristina Mora, Davide Menozzi

About the editors

Giovanni Sogari, PhD
Giovanni is a researcher in the Department of Food and Drug at the University of Parma, Italy, and a Marie Curie Fellow. Currently he is also a visiting scholar in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, and an Academic Scholar at the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, in Ithaca, NY, USA. His main research interests are consumer behavior about healthy and sustainable diet, and novel foods market. He is a member of the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, and the European Association of Agricultural Economists.

Cristina Mora, PhD

Cristina is a Full Professor in the Department of Food and Drug at the University of Parma, Italy. Her work includes a growing body of literature on qualitative methodologies to understand consumer attitudes and behaviors related to emerging food products as well as stakeholder analysis and public engagement in the agrifood sector. She has been involved in several EU research projects. Recent examples include Focus Balkans, Pegasus and Prime Fish projects. Cristina also undertakes teaching activities at the undergraduate and postgraduate level in Italy on consumer behavior and agribusiness. She is a member of the Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economists (AIEAA) and the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE).



Davide Menozzi, PhD

Davide is an Associate Professor in Agricultural Economics and Rural Appraisal at the University of Parma, Italy. His main research interests are the analysis of consumer behavior and preferences, the economics of food quality schemes, and the evaluation of the socio-economic sustainability of dietary behaviors. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the Departmentof Food and Drug and the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Parma. He is an active member in various scientific societies including the Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economists (AIEAA) and the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Edible Insects in the Food Sector

  • Book Subtitle: Methods, Current Applications and Perspectives

  • Editors: Giovanni Sogari, Cristina Mora, Davide Menozzi

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22522-3

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-22521-6Published: 03 September 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-22524-7Published: 03 September 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-22522-3Published: 19 August 2019

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 120

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Entomology, Food Science, Agricultural Economics, Food Microbiology, Nutrition

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access