Is Cricket Protein Legal in Singapore? What the SFA Rules Actually Require

Pick up a cricket protein snack in Singapore and a reasonable first question is: wait, is this actually allowed?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is more interesting than most people expect, because Singapore didn't simply wave insects through — it built a purpose-made rulebook first. If you're curious about what stands between a cricket farm and a packet on a shelf here, this is what the rules actually say.

Yes — crickets are on Singapore's approved list

On 8 July 2024, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approved 16 insect species for human consumption and animal feed, including several species of crickets, alongside locusts, mealworm larvae, moth larvae and honey bees, as Baker McKenzie's Singapore team summarised at the time.

That list has since been written into law. SFA's own Insect Regulatory Framework page now points to the Food Safety and Security (Catalogued Insect-like Species) Order 2025, which formalises the 16 species. Under the Food Safety and Security legislation, insect-like species sit in a category called "Defined Food" alongside novel foods and genetically modified foods — and as law firm Keller and Heckman explains, anything that isn't a catalogued species requires pre-market approval before it can be sold.

In plain terms: a small, named list is pre-cleared. Everything else has to knock on the door and make its case.

What SFA actually checks

SFA states that its guidelines rest on three points: the species must be assessed to have a history of human consumption, contaminants must not be introduced during farming and processing, and the final product must be safe to eat.

The agency is candid that it didn't invent this from scratch. The framework was developed after a scientific review that took reference from the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand. SFA also notes something worth sitting with: there are currently no international standards from the Codex Alimentarius Commission or the World Organisation for Animal Health governing insects as food. This is a young regulatory field, and Singapore is among the jurisdictions writing the early drafts.

For a species not on the list, the bar is specific. An applicant must supply the scientific name and intended life stage, the farming and processing method including the substrate the insects are fed on, evidence of use as human food in another country, scientific or laboratory evidence of safety, and a Singapore address or entity.

Ready-to-eat products face an extra step

Importantly, none of these insects may be harvested from the wild. Importers must show documentary proof that products were made in properly regulated premises, along with a health certificate.

For products meant to be eaten straight from the packet — SFA gives fried insect snacks and protein bars containing insect powder as examples — FoodNavigator reported that there is an additional requirement: a health certificate confirming the product has undergone sufficient heat treatment, or an equivalent bactericidal process, to kill potential pathogens.

Insect products are then subject to the same inspection and surveillance regime as any other food here, including sampling for food safety testing. Anything found non-compliant isn't allowed to be sold.

The rule most shoppers care about: it has to say so

This is the part worth remembering the next time someone tells you they're worried about "accidentally" eating insects.

Under Singapore's Food Regulations, pre-packaged food — including food containing insects as an ingredient — must be labelled to indicate the true nature of the product. In practice that means the insect has to be listed as an ingredient. SFA states that failing to comply is an offence carrying a fine of up to $5,000.

So the honest answer to "could this be hidden in my food?" is no, not lawfully. If crickets are in it, the ingredients list has to say crickets.

Farming here comes with its own rulebook

Businesses that want to farm insects locally for human consumption face further conditions. Only listed species may be farmed. Applicants must submit a HACCP or Food Safety Management System plan and then actually implement it across the licence term. Feed must not be contaminated with anything that would make the insects unsafe; for materials of ruminant origin, only deboned meat cuts and dairy are permitted, and food waste used as feed must not be decaying.

What the rules don't do

Worth being straight about this: regulatory approval is a safety judgement, not a nutrition endorsement. SFA is saying these species can be eaten safely under these conditions — not that any given product is good for you. A cricket protein snack still has to earn its place on its own nutrition panel, same as any cracker or biscuit.

Approval also doesn't erase allergen risk. If you have a shellfish allergy, the labelling rules exist precisely so you can check the ingredients list and make your own call.

Where we sit

HexaCrunch is a Singapore brand making baked brown-rice crackers with cricket protein, and every one of the requirements above applies to us — approved species, heat treatment, ingredient labelling and all. We'd rather you know that than take our word for it.

If you'd like to taste before you commit to a flavour, the Try-All 3-Pack lets you work through all three in one go. Read the label first — we wrote it to be read.

Sources

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