Abstract
Entomophagy refers to eating insects. Insect food, including cooked insects and other processed food with insect-based ingredients, is consumed in many regions of the world as a part of traditional dietary behavior, or as innovative functional food. However, many people especially in western or industrialized societies have shown negative attitudes such as resistance or disgust to entomophagy. In this study, we examined the acceptability of eating insects from the context of the behavioral immune system (BIS), by employing a questionnaire survey and picture-based semantic association experiment. We collected data from 1,369 Japanese participants (581 females and 788 males, mean age = 43.41 years, SD = 10.44 years) by conducting an online survey. The results revealed the influence of the behavioral immune system on entomophagy: The semantic associations between insect food and non-insect food, and between insect food and pathogens were significantly predicted by multiple domains related to the attitudes, concerns, and experience of food and pathogens. The semantic associations between insect food and pathogens were significantly stronger than other associations. People who concentrate on food safety and hygiene revealed fewer associations between insect food and non-insect food. These results indicated that promoting the sanitary and hygienic image of insect food may reduce revulsion at entomophagy and promote uptake.
Highlights
Entomophagy, which refers to the behavior of consuming insects as food and/or nutrients, is part of the dietary behavior of individuals in many countries and regions in the world especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America [1, 2]
The aim of the present study is to explore that whether the revulsion at eating insects is due to the behavioral immune system (BIS)
In relation to the I-P association, we revealed that the experience of consuming insect food and the attention given to the relationship between food and pathogens were significant positive predictors
Summary
Entomophagy, which refers to the behavior of consuming insects as food and/or nutrients, is part of the dietary behavior of individuals in many countries and regions in the world especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America [1, 2]. In western countries such as Australia [12], Hungary [13], Belgium [4], and the Netherlands [14], an increasing number of individuals have started to show interest or positive attitude to insect food. Exposure to entomophagy, such as providing information about or opportunity to try insect food, was found to contribute to positive attitudes toward insect food in some of these countries [15]. Grasshoppers (Oxya yezoensis or O. japonica) and wasps (Vespula and Dolichovespula spp.) are the most popular insects consumed in Japan [17]
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