Bugs in your bread. On purpose?

Just over a week ago, Finnish bakery and food service company Fazer launched the world's first commercially available insect-based bread. It will soon be offered to consumers in stores.

The bread, which is made from ground up dried crickets, wheat flour and seeds, contains more protein than normal wheat bread. Each loaf contains about 70 crickets and costs 3.99 euros (around R65), compared with 2 to 3 euros for a regular wheat loaf.

Insect-eating, which is called entomophagy, is common in much of the world. The United Nations estimated last year that at least 2 billion people use a up to 1,900 species of insects for food.

In Western countries, edible bugs are becoming increasingly popular in niche markets, particularly among those seeking a gluten-free diet or wanting to protect the environment because farming insects uses less land, water and feed than traditional animal farming.