How many people on our planet eat insects: 2 billion?

A. van Huis*, A. Halloran, J. Van Itterbeeck, H. Klunder, P. Vantomme

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialAcademic

39 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The estimated figure of two billion people consuming insects mentioned in the 2013 FAO/WUR report about edible insects has been cited many times over. This editorial asks four questions to determine the accuracy of the estimated figure: how to define an ‘insect-eating’ person; which percentage of the population eats insects; how does insect consumption develop over time; and how to define an edible insect? Our conclusion is that it is difficult to establish an exact figure of how many people eat insects globally and that the much cited 2 billion figure in the FAO/WUR report must be an overestimation

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Insects as Food and Feed
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

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