AN Edinburgh student has created an innovative cookery kit to encourage people to eat insects as part of their daily diet.

Creepy-crawlies like beetles, caterpillars and grasshoppers are a staple in many parts of the world, but despite them being low in fat and calories and containing as much protein as beef, many in the Western world are repulsed by the idea of swallowing insects.

Courtney Yule, who is in the final year of a product design course at Edinburgh Napier University, has created an "Entopod'" to promote the idea of insects as a sustainable food source while also trying to dispel the "yuck factor" which inhibits people from tasting them.

Harvesting insects is seen as more environmentally-friendly than traditional livestock farming which requires land, crops for feed, and animals and machinery which produce greenhouse gases.

Courtney's "Entopod" includes a grinder to create insect flour to bake into recipes or add to shakes, and detachable containers to heat food in the oven, microwave or on the hob.

She said: "The main barrier is obviously getting consumers to accept the idea of eating insects. Before I began this work I didn't even like to touch them, but I don't have any problem with eating them now and it is a practice which is growing in popularity every day."