A Vending machine, which promotes the snacks as “highly nutritious meals of the future,” was set up in the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture.
Nine types of insect snacks, including fried crickets, mole crickets, bamboo worms, diving beetles, locusts and silkworm pupae, are sold for 1,000 yen (about US$8) each. The aim is to contribute to the realization of the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This is a project carried out by Sanpuku Holdings and the insects was processed by Hamaru Food.
A January 2021 study in Critical Reviews in Food Science Nutrition said edible insects may have “high superior health benefits” due to high levels of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, fiber, essential amino acids, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and antioxidants. Cricket is a great source of protein from their muscle-bound hind legs used for jumping.