Prospects of insects as food and feed

Abstract

In the last 10 years, the interest to use insects as food and feed has increased exponentially. In tropical zones, insects are a common food item as they are more readily available as food in nature than in other climate zones. However, if we want to promote insects as food and feed, harvesting from nature is not an option and the farming of these animals is required. This can be done in environmentally controlled facilities. Insects are not only nutritionally excellent food; they may also have health benefits. When using organic side streams as substrate, chemical and biological contaminants need to be considered. People in western countries are not used to eating insects, and therefore, strategies to "convince" consumers of their hygienic safety, environmental sustainability, and tastiness are necessary. The insect sector is maturing fast, but still faces many challenges, which can only be met when all stakeholders cooperate closely. Keywords Edible insects. Insects as food and feed. Circular economy. Nutrition and health. Industrial production. Food safety and legislation. Consumer attitudes Org. Agr.

Engaging stakeholders in research to address water–energy–food (WEF) nexus challenges

“…The three innovations vary in their levels of maturity in the UK, and enjoy varying degrees of policy support. For example while AD is relatively well established, though with considerable potential for further expansion (National Grid 2016 ), the potential applications of insect proteins remain relatively underexplored (van Huis et al 2013 ). The case study approach thus sought to capture the dynamics of innovation processes in different contexts, to understand the conditions that support, direct and constrain processes of scaling-up, including both intrinsic (e.g., organisational capacity) and extrinsic factors (e.g., existing policy landscape) affecting case studies.…”

Tolerance and Excretion of the Mycotoxins Aflatoxin B1, Zearalenone, Deoxynivalenol, and Ochratoxin A by Alphitobius diaperinus and Hermetia illucens from Contaminated Substrates

“…The insects were reared on feed spiked with the mycotoxins individually and also as a mixture in order to determine the effect of exposure to co-occurring mycotoxins. These two species were chosen because they have been identified as being among the most interesting insect species for large-scale production for use as feed and food materials [ 5 , 11 ]. Mycotoxin contamination levels were chosen at levels relative to the respective limits set by the European Commission (EC limit) for complete feed such to investigate whether these current European Commission limits are suitable for these two insect species.…”

University Student Perspectives of Entomophagy: Positive Attitudes Lead to Observability and Education Opportunities

“…Attention to insects as an alternative food source has increased over recent years and edible insects are predicted to occupy a larger share of the global food supply in the future ( van Huis and Dunkel 2017 ). Globally, entomophagy has been embraced by many cultures and over 1,900 species of insects provide valuable nutrients to people’s diets ( van Huis et al 2013 , Halloran et al 2018 , Kim et al 2019 ). However, insect consumption is less common in many countries in the northern hemisphere, including the United States and most of Europe, where perceived social norms play an important role in dictating whether people will consume insects ( Jensen and Lieberoth 2019 ).…”

“…They also present a low-resource intensive source of food that requires less water, land space, and feed to be raised. Insect production also results in much less manure and up to 100 times fewer greenhouse gasses than traditional livestock ( van Huis et al 2013 , van Huis et al 2017 , Halloran 2018 ). As an example, crickets are twice as efficient at converting feed to meat as chickens, at least 4 times as efficient as pigs, and 12 times more efficient than cattle ( van Huis et al 2013 ).…”

“…Insect production also results in much less manure and up to 100 times fewer greenhouse gasses than traditional livestock ( van Huis et al 2013 , van Huis et al 2017 , Halloran 2018 ). As an example, crickets are twice as efficient at converting feed to meat as chickens, at least 4 times as efficient as pigs, and 12 times more efficient than cattle ( van Huis et al 2013 ). Several trends have emerged indicating the main drivers for public acceptance of entomophagy reside in associating insects as food with the positive environmental, sustainable, and nutritional factors associated with consuming insects ( Menozzi et al 2017 , Mancini et al 2019b ).…”