The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) as a novel food: a risk profile

Abstract

Novel foods represent sustainable alternatives to traditional farming and conventional foodstuffs. The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is considered as one of the most promising reared insects due to their attractive nutritional profile and lower feed conversion ratio compared to other animals. However, putative health hazards associated with consumption of crickets have previously not been investigated. The present study assesses the risks of A. domesticus reared in closed systems controlled by the implementation of hazard analysis and critical control points and good farming practices. Due to the novelty of the topic, data scarcity has been a limiting factor, hence comparative evidence from closely related species belonging to the order Orthoptera (e.g. grasshoppers, locusts, and other cricket species) have been included. The present risk profile identified as main hazards: (1) high total counts of aerobic bacteria; (2) presence of spore-forming bacteria post thermal processing; (3) accumulation of cadmium and other heavy metals; and (4) a possible increase of allergenic reactions due to exposure to insects and insect derived products. Important data gaps regarding edible crickets and their safety as novel foods have been highlighted in the future perspective section, representing aims for future research. Identified data gaps include: (1) farming conditions of the insects being studied; (2) data on the impact of thermal processing of the products prior to consumption; (3) fungal communities and mycotoxins-producing fungi in reared crickets; and (4) heavy metals not fully assessed (chromium, aluminium and arsenic) and other chemical hazards produced during processing (i.e. heterocyclic aromatic amines, acrylamide). The present risk profile explores food safety risks related to consumption of A. domesticus, thereby constituting an example of chemical and microbial hazards risk profiling on edible insects, covering rearing to consumption.

Novel foods: a risk profile for the house cricket (Acheta domesticus)

“…However, due the huge diversity within the insects’ world, there is a need to target insect species relevant for European consumers specifically. Therefore, a specific risk profile for the consumption of A. domesticus reared in controlled conditions has been developed (Fernandez‐Cassi et al., submitted).…”

Entomophagy and Public Health: A Review of Microbiological Hazards

“…Like parasites, there are many entomopathogenic viruses specific for invertebrates that cause Animal Health problems, but their presence and virulence in vertebrates have never been described [30]. The most well-known are the Densoviruses (AdDV) and the Cricket Paralysis Virus (CrPV), with the latest to cause particularly high mortality rates for A. domesticus populations [19]. These viruses are a severe problem in mass rearing for the production of food for humans or animals [12].…”

“…Nevertheless, it has been demonstrated that some insect species can act as mechanical vectors of prions that are present in the rearing substrate, as highlighted for scrapie in sheeps [34]. Reference [19] summarized studies that report the high stability of prions in the environment, and the prions' ability to maintain their infectivity for long timespan in soil and water. Use of substrates of non-human and non-ruminant origin [12], as well as control of the substrate's quality and feed quality [19] could act as preventive measures to avoid occurrence of prions in the edible insects.…”

“…A fasting step of 24 -48 h is usually implemented before insect slaughtering, in order to allow the insects to empty their bowel content and decrease the total microbial load. However, the efficiency of this measure has not been clearly demonstrated yet [19]. Microbiological criteria (hygiene or safety) for insects and products thereof as food at a European Union level do not exist yet.…”

“…As such, it is very important to be able to quantify the relative contributions of different sources to the human disease burden; it is the role of source attribution studies that are currently developed [14]. In fact, several studies have shown in recent years, all over the world, that food of animal origin was responsible for more than 50% of reported food-borne infectious diseases outbreaks [15] with their digestive tract [19]. This is the main objective of this review.…”