**4. Conclusions**

This study provides a better understanding of the reasons that consumers would not consider eating foods containing insect ingredients. The appearance is a critical issue and a high priority for consumers. There is no doubt that the fragments or pieces of the insect cannot be present in the final product. The emotional and psychological issues represented by the statements "The idea is disgusting"/"Just the thought makes me sick" and the potential misconception that all "insects are not safe to eat" are as crucial as the visual factor.

Of lesser impact in this study, but potentially related to the key factors are such aspects as the misbelief that all insects are dirty/filthy, which may cause consumers to avoid insect-based products. The two sensory characteristics that concerned some participants were the potential impact of the insect ingredients on the taste and texture, but those should be able to be overcome with the adequate selection and formulation of the food product. Certainly, those two aspects are barriers for any new or revamped products that research and development groups need to carefully consider before the creation of a new product.

This research suggests that the use of insect-based powders/flours to avoid the appearance and textural issues and education that overcomes the disgust and safety concerns of consumers are key to the introduction of insect-based food products in many countries. In some countries, such as Mexico and Thailand, the sensory issues may be of more concern than the disgust issues because insect-based products are already known, although not necessarily widely eaten.

**Author Contributions:** Both authors contributed to all parts of the project including conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, and writing and editing the paper.

**Funding:** This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch under accession number 1016242.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
