Edible insects contributing to food security?

Abstract

Because of growing demand for meat and declining availability of agricultural land, there is an urgent need to find alternative protein sources. Edible insects can be produced with less environmental impact than livestock. Insect meal can replace scarce fishmeal as feed ingredient, in particular in the fast growing aquaculture industry. Edible insects can alleviate waste disposal problems by growing them on organic by-products. About 2000 insect species are eaten worldwide, mostly in tropical countries. They have adequate protein quantity and quality and high content of unsaturated fatty acids and minerals like iron and zinc. Promotion of insects as food and feed will require the insects to be farmed. In tropical countries this is done small-scale, but in particular for use of insects as feed, production is needed in large automated industrial facilities. Food safety problems relate to contamination with pathogens, requiring hygienic farming. Proper labelling may be required for people allergic to seafood and house dust mites as cross reactivity may occur. Western consumers are hard to convince to eat insects, even when aware of environmental, nutritional and food safety benefits and their excellent taste. Emotional and psychological impediments to acceptance have to be addressed. The way forward of edible insects to become a new sector in agriculture and the food and feed industry is discussed. In particular, legislation lags behind developments and needs to be addressed urgently.

Improvement of techno-functional properties of edible insect protein from migratory locust by enzymatic hydrolysis

“…Species belonging to the order Orthoptera such as locusts, grasshoppers and crickets were reported to exhibit highest average protein concentrations up to 77% db (dry base) among all insect orders [5]. Next to mealworm species, crickets and the black soldier fly, the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria L.) is among the most promising candidates for the integration of edible insects in western food and feed industry due to auspicious crude protein content of 65% db, well-balanced amino acid profile and already existing rearing know-how on a commercial scale for pet food or even human nutrition [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Legal and environmental aspects of authorizing edible insects in the European Union

“…The statistics provided by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization show that the breeding of traditional livestock requires 68% of the world doi: 10.17221/3/2016-AGRICECON agricultural land, comprising both pastures and the land area for growing feed (van Huis 2015). Farming mini-livestock will require considerably less agricultural land.…”

The big bug: The legitimation of the edible insect sector in the Netherlands

“…The limits to human and livestock consumption involve safety issues, the main concerns being heavy metals, toxic chemicals, allergens, and pathogens (Van Huis, 2015;Van der Spiegel et al, 2013). However, recent research of fly larvae in animal feed indicated that "with appropriate quality assurance mechanisms and testing regimes in place to monitor chemicals in the larvae then we can conclude that it is feasible to produce fly larvae that are free from chemicals of concern to the animal feed sector" (Charlton et al, 2015, p. 15).…”