Or having a wrap for lunch made with insect flour? How about ending the day with stir-fried or barbecued crickets for dinner?

Despite most people baulking at the idea of eating bugs, such insect-based foods could become ubiquitous in Europe in the next decade or so, according to Lars-Henrik Lau Heckmann, a biologist at the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) in Aarhus.

The DTI is leading the three-year project inVALUABLE, one of Europe's largest research programmes on industrial-scale production of insects - particularly mealworms - as a more environmentally-friendly food for people and animals.

"I believe ... young people will find it very natural to make pasta and wok dishes with insects as they today eat sushi," said Heckmann, standing next to trays of mealworms stacked on top of each other on three metres (10 ft) high metal frames.