Insect as food – safety is a priority

WE REFER to Loh Kin Poh’s letter “Edible insects: Critical to have measures against ‘inadvertent consumption’” (The Business Times, Jul 19)

The safety of all food consumed in Singapore, including insects, is a priority of the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). SFA has put in place a robust insect regulatory framework to ensure that insects, whether produced locally or imported, are safe for consumers who wish to consume them as an additional food option.

Loh rightly pointed out measures SFA has in place to ensure insect farms and importers meet our guidelines. These include providing documentary proof that imported insects are farmed in regulated establishments with food safety controls and not harvested from the wild; and ensuring the substrate used for rearing or feeding insects is not contaminated with toxic substances.