Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review

Abstract

Compared to their vertebrate counterparts in traditional husbandry, insects are extremely efficient at converting organic matter into animal protein and dietary energy. For this reason, insects for food and feed show great potential as an environmentally friendly choice in future food systems. However, to obtain a true assessment of this, more information is needed about the production systems. Currently, only six studies applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to insect production systems have been published. The studies are heterogenous and thus difficult to compare. The aim of this paper was to establish a versatile reference framework that would allow for the selection of standardized settings for LCA applications in insect production systems, taking both the peculiarity of each system and the latest developments in food LCA into account. It is recommended that future LCAs of insect production systems take the following into account: (1) clear definition of the insect species and life stages included in the LCA, (2) use of at least two of the following types of functional units: nutritional, mass, or economic-based, (3) collection of empirical data in situ (e.g., on farms/production sites), (4) comparative analysis where production systems produce products that are realistic alternatives to the insect species under investigation, (5) inclusion of additional or previously unconsidered unit processes, such as processing and storage and waste management, and (6) use of a wide range of impact categories, especially climate change, resource consumption, nutrient enrichment potential, acidification potential, and impacts on land and water consumption in order to allow for comparison between studies.

The Moral Justification Behind a Climate Tax on Beef in Denmark

“…A shift to a vegetarian or vegan diet can reduce emissions by 20-55%, while substituting monogastric meat (pork or poultry) for ruminant meat alone can reduce GHG emissions by 20-35% (Hallström et al 2015). Recently research into emissions from alternative sources of food have been carried out showing that diets without farmed meat (artificial meat, dairy, insects or plant based diets) has the potential to cut GHG emissions to less than a third of diets containing meat (Röös et al 2016;Halloran et al 2016;Tuomisto and de Mattos 2011).…”

Constraints of HACCP Application on Edible Insect for Food and Feed

“…In the planning of farm location, it should be studied to avoid farm implementation in polluted areas that can be responsible for biological or chemical contamination of insects. When in insects' production, it is considered to use low-value lands, and it has been referred to use the natural streams and waste streams [11]. Those practices are not recommended due to the possibility of contamination of insects with several types of hazards.…”

“…To feed mealworms, cereal or cereal by-products or formulated feed is currently used. Other insects have a highly specialized feeding, as silkworms that are nourished only with mulberry leaves [11,15]. The feed must comply with the safety criteria previewed for any food production animal, in Europe by the Regulation 767 [40].…”

“…When high productivity is aimed, feed should be formulated to fulfill the nutritional needs of the insects. There are several references to the use of formulated feed for chicken [11,44] or specifically formulated feed to the specific insect [1,45]. These feeds must obey to the parameters required for any preparation used in animal production.…”

“…Insect farms can be used to produce, virtually, any insect species, provided that it became economically profitable. In an insect farm, all the lifecycle stages should be assured, to guarantee the progeny and continue the production with a new batch [11]. Usually, only a defined stage of the insect's life cycle stage is used for food (Figure 1).…”