Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Food structure and Function Research Group, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium.
Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
PLoS One. 2023 Jan 11;18(1):e0279530. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279530. eCollection 2023.
The interest in edible insects as food is growing, both in traditional and non-traditional insect-eating countries given their advantages in terms of sustainability and nutritional content. However, only a few studies have conducted cross-country investigations on the acceptance of including processed or whole insects in the diet. Thus, this study aimed to examine to which extent consumers were accepting (i) whole and visible mealworms, (ii) processed mealworms in their diet and (iii) to explore the factors affecting the acceptance level of consuming mealworms in countries with and without entomophagy tradition. An online survey was applied to collect responses (3,006) from five countries-i.e., Belgium, China, Italy, Mexico, and the US-using a quota sampling method. Moreover, an information treatment was included with about half of the participants receiving information about the advantages of edible insects as food (ingredient) and the presence of food safety regulations. Across countries, gender was the main factor affecting acceptance level as men accepted mealworms more than women. Entomophagy tradition mainly explained the differences among countries. Countries with entomophagy traditions (Mexico and China) showed higher acceptance of including whole or processed mealworms in the diet compared to countries with no entomophagy traditions (i.e., Belgium, Italy, and the US). While information and age did affect differently the acceptance of including processed mealworms in countries with entomophagy traditions showing that consumer acceptance was affected by information in Mexico and by age in China. Whereas it was found that younger people (below 42 years old) in countries without entomophagy tradition were more open to accepting processed mealworms in their diet. Moreover, across countries, the acceptance of including processed mealworms was higher compared to whole mealworms. These findings provide insights into which consumer segments to target and the potential impact of information when introducing new insect-based foods in countries with and without entomophagy traditions.
人们对食用昆虫作为食物的兴趣日益浓厚，无论是在传统的还是非传统的食虫国家，这都得益于其在可持续性和营养成分方面的优势。然而，只有少数研究对包括加工或整只昆虫在内的饮食接受度进行了跨国调查。因此，本研究旨在探讨在有和没有食虫传统的国家，消费者在多大程度上接受(i)整只可见的黄粉虫，(ii)加工过的黄粉虫作为饮食的一部分，以及(iii)探讨影响食用黄粉虫接受水平的因素。本研究采用在线调查的方式，使用配额抽样方法从五个国家（比利时、中国、意大利、墨西哥和美国）收集了 3006 名参与者的回复。此外，研究还包括一个信息处理，大约一半的参与者收到了有关食用昆虫作为食物（成分）的优势和食品安全法规存在的信息。在所有国家中，性别是影响接受水平的主要因素，男性比女性更能接受食用黄粉虫。食虫传统主要解释了各国之间的差异。有食虫传统的国家（墨西哥和中国）比没有食虫传统的国家（比利时、意大利和美国）更能接受将整只或加工过的黄粉虫纳入饮食。信息和年龄对有食虫传统的国家的加工黄粉虫接受度的影响不同，表明消费者的接受度受到墨西哥信息的影响和中国年龄的影响。研究发现，没有食虫传统的国家中年龄在 42 岁以下的年轻人更愿意接受加工过的黄粉虫作为饮食的一部分。此外，在所有国家中，消费者对加工过的黄粉虫的接受度高于整只黄粉虫。这些发现为在有和没有食虫传统的国家中引入新的昆虫类食品提供了有针对性的消费者群体以及信息潜在影响的见解。
