Finnish bakery sells 'world's first insect bread' made from crickets

A Finnish bakery has launched what it claims to be the world’s first insect-based bread, made from crushed crickets.

Helsinki-based bakery Fazer made the bread using flour ground from dried crickets. Each loaf contains about 70 of the insects, combined with wheat flour and other seeds.

At £3.55 (€3.99) a loaf, it is slightly more expensive than a regular wheat loaf which usually sells for about £2 (€2.24).

Due to a limited supply of crickets, the insect-bread will initially only be sold in 11 Fazer bakery stores in Helsinki, but the company plans to offer it in all 47 of its stores by next year.

It comes as Finland lifts a ban on the sale of insects raised and marketed for food use.

Five other European countries - the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Denmark - already allow this.

In 2013, the United Nations estimated that at least 2 billion people eat insects worldwide.

The development of the insect-bread comes as edible bugs gain popularity in niche markets in western countries. They are a seen as a more ethical protein source for environmentally-conscious customers because farming insects uses less land, water and feed than other animals.

The bread’s bakers say their insect bread is more rich in protein than regular wheat loads.