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1.04cm spine
for 208pg on
90g eco paper
ISS N 0258 -615 0
Edible insects have always been a part of human diets,
but in some societies there remains a degree of disdain
and disgust for their consumption. Although the majority
of consumed insects are gathered in forest habitats,
mass-rearing systems are being developed in many
countries. Insects offer a significant opportunity to merge
traditional knowledge and modern science to improve
human food security worldwide.
This publication describes the contribution of insects to
food security and examines future prospects for raising
insects at a commercial scale to improve food and feed
production, diversify diets, and support livelihoods in both
developing and developed countries. It shows the many
traditional and potential new uses of insects for direct
human consumption and the opportunities for and
constraints to farming them for food and feed. It examines
the body of research on issues such as insect nutrition and
food safety, the use of insects as animal feed, and the
processing and preservation of insects and their products.
It highlights the need to develop a regulatory framework to
govern the use of insects for food security. And it presents
case studies and examples from around the world.
Edible insects are a promising alternative to the
conventional production of meat, either for direct human
consumption or for indirect use as feedstock. To fully realize
this potential, much work needs to be done by a wide range
of stakeholders. This publication will boost awareness of
the many valuable roles that insects play in sustaining
nature and human life, and it will stimulate debate on the
expansion of the use of insects as food and feed.
FAO
FORESTRY
PAPER
FAO FORESTRY PAPER
171
171 FAOEdible insects: future prospects for food and feed security
171
Edible insects
Future prospects for food and feed security
Edible insects
Future prospects for food and feed security
Edible insects
Future prospects for food and feed security
I3253E/1/04.13
ISBN 978-92-5-107595-1 ISSN 0258-6150
9789251 075951
1.04cm spine
for 208pg on
90g eco paper
Cover photos, clockwise from top left:
Women selling caterpillars in Bangui, Central African Republic (P. Vantomme)
Gold-painted crickets on top of Belgian chocolates (P. Vantomme)
Black soldier fly in a mass-rearing unit (L. Heaton)
Appetizers prepared with insects (T. Calame)
Coleoptera species used as a food colorant (A. Halloran)
Palm weevil larvae (O. Ndoye)
by
Arnold van Huis
Joost Van Itterbeeck
Harmke Klunder
Esther Mertens
Afton Halloran
Giulia Muir
and
Paul Vantomme
Edible insects:
future prospects for
food and feed security
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Rome, 2013
FAO
FORESTRY
PAPER
171
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this
information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever
on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city
or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or
boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers,
whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have
been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar
nature that are not mentioned.
The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.
ISBN 978-92-5-107595-1 (print)
E-ISBN 978-92-5-107596-8 (PDF)
© FAO 2013
FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this
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iii
Contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................... ix
Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. x
Authors’ preface ....................................................................................................... xi
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. xii
Executive Summary ................................................................................................. xiii
1. Introduction.................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Why eat insects? ............................................................................................... 2
1.2 Why FAO? .......................................................................................................... 2
2. The role of insects.......................................................................................... 5
2.1 Beneficial roles of insects for nature and humans ......................................... 5
2.2 Entomophagy around the world ..................................................................... 9
2.3 Examples of important insect species consumed ......................................... 20
2.4 Important insect products ............................................................................. 29
3. Culture, religion and the history of entomophagy ................................... 35
3.1 Why are insects not eaten in Western countries? ........................................ 35
3.2 Why were insects never domesticated for food? ......................................... 37
3.3 Negative attitudes towards insects ............................................................... 39
3.4 History of entomophagy ................................................................................ 40
4. Edible insects as a natural resource ........................................................... 45
4.1 Edible insect ecology ...................................................................................... 45
4.2 Collecting from the wild: potential threats and solutions ........................... 45
4.3 Conservation and management of edible insect resources ........................ 48
4.4 Semi-cultivation of edible insects .................................................................. 51
4.5 Pest management ........................................................................................... 55
5. Environmental opportunities of insect rearing for food and feed .......... 59
5.1 Feed conversion .............................................................................................. 60
5.2 Organic side streams ...................................................................................... 60
5.3 Greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions ..................................................... 62
5.4 Water use ........................................................................................................ 64
5.5 Life cycle analysis ............................................................................................ 64
5.6 Animal welfare ............................................................................................... 65
5.7 Risk of zoonotic infections ............................................................................. 65
5.8 “One Health” concept .................................................................................... 66
6. Nutritional value of insects for human consumption ................................67
6.1 Nutritional composition ................................................................................. 67
6.2 Beef versus insects: an example of the mealworm ...................................... 74
6.3 Insects as part of diets ................................................................................... 76
6.4 Sustainable diets ............................................................................................. 79
6.5 Edible insects in emergency relief programmes ........................................... 79
iv
7. Insects as animal feed .................................................................................. 89
7.1 Overview ......................................................................................................... 89
7.2 Poultry and fish fed with insects ................................................................... 90
7.3 Key insect species used as feed ..................................................................... 93
8. Farming insects ............................................................................................ 99
8.1 Definitions and concepts ............................................................................... 99
8.2 Insect farming ................................................................................................. 99
8.3 Insect farming for human consumption ..................................................... 101
8.4 Insect farming for feed ................................................................................ 103
8.5 Recommendations on insect farming ......................................................... 103
9. Processing edible insects for food and feed ............................................. 107
9.1 Different types of consumable products .................................................... 107
9.2 Industrial scale processing.............................................................................110
10. Food safety and preservation .................................................................. 117
10.1 Preservation and storage .............................................................................. 117
10.2 Insect features, food safety and antimicrobial compounds .......................119
10.3 Allergies ......................................................................................................... 123
11. Edible insects as an engine for improving livelihoods ...........................125
11.1 Insects as a part of the minilivestock sector ............................................... 125
11.2 Improving local diets .................................................................................... 126
11.3 Access, tenure and rights to natural capital ............................................... 127
11.4 Inclusion of women ...................................................................................... 128
12. Economics: cash income, enterprise development, markets
and trade ....................................................................................................131
12.1 Cash income ...................................................................................................131
12.2 Enterprise development ............................................................................... 133
12.3 Developing markets for insect products ..................................................... 135
12.4 Market strategies .......................................................................................... 137
12.5 Trade .............................................................................................................. 138
13. Promoting insects as feed and food ........................................................ 141
13.1 The disgust factor ..........................................................................................141
13.2 Drawing on traditional knowledge ............................................................. 147
13.3 Role of stakeholders ..................................................................................... 149
14. Regulatory frameworks governing the use of insects for
food security ..............................................................................................153
14.1 Major barriers faced ..................................................................................... 154
14.2 Legal framework and standardization ........................................................ 156
15. The way forward ......................................................................................161
References .......................................................................................................163
Further reading ..............................................................................................187
v
Boxes
1.1 What are insects? .............................................................................................. 1
2.1 Outbreaks of the brown planthopper ............................................................. 5
2.2 Common insect products and services ............................................................. 6
2.3 Examples of cultural entomology .................................................................... 7
2.4 Example of national insect diversity: species eaten in the
Central African Republic ................................................................................. 10
2.5 Use of sound in harvesting larvae ...................................................................11
2.6 Maguey worms ................................................................................................ 12
2.7 Beekeeping around the world ....................................................................... 13
2.8 Ahuahutle, Mexican caviar ............................................................................. 15
2.9 Wild food consumption by the Popoloca people of Los Reyes
Metzontla Puebla, Mexico ............................................................................. 19
2.10 Yansi sayings, Democratic Republic of the Congo ........................................ 21
2.11 Red palm weevil .............................................................................................. 22
2.12 Merging traditional knowledge and new technologies for termite
harvesting in Kenya ........................................................................................ 24
2.13 Power cuts harm Uganda’s edible grasshopper business ............................. 28
2.14 Controversial use of cochineal ........................................................................ 30
2.15 Using scale insects to enhance honey production ........................................ 31
3.1 Sky prawns and sea crickets ............................................................................ 36
3.2 Examples from Mali and the United States ................................................... 38
3.3 Entomophagy and modern-day Christianity ................................................. 40
3.4 Edible insects through the centuries .............................................................. 41
4.1 Lao People’s Democratic Republic ................................................................. 46
4.2 Wild harvesting in Asia and the Pacific: past, present and future .............. 46
4.3 Mopane and other African caterpillars ......................................................... 47
4.4 Insects and biodiversity in Brazil .................................................................... 50
4.5 Effect of fire management and shifting cultivation on caterpillar
populations ...................................................................................................... 53
4.6 The case of the cockchafer bug: from agricultural pest to delicacy
to conservation controversy ........................................................................... 55
5.1 Ecodiptera project ........................................................................................... 61
6.1 The FAO/INFOODS food composition database for biodiversity ................. 67
6.2 Proteins and amino acids (“food chemistry”) ............................................... 68
6.3 Fatty acids ........................................................................................................ 71
6.4 Witchetty grub ............................................................................................... 71
6.5 Don Bugito: creative and traditional Mexican food cart ............................. 77
6.6 WinFood: alleviating childhood malnutrition by improved use of
traditional foods ............................................................................................. 80
7.1 International Feed Industry Federation and FAO: looking for new,
safe proteins .................................................................................................... 89
7.2 Fish for non-food uses .................................................................................... 90
7.3 Which insects are currently used in animal feed? ......................................... 91
vi
7.4 Chicken consumption leading to human infection with highly
drug-resistant ESBL strains ............................................................................. 91
7.5 Increasing the sustainability of freshwater prawn production
in Ohio ............................................................................................................. 94
8.1 Dual production systems (fibre and food): the example of
the silkworm .................................................................................................... 99
8.2 Biological control and natural pollination................................................... 100
8.3 Insect proteins in space ................................................................................. 102
8.4 Difficulties in rearing crickets in the Netherlands ....................................... 104
9.1 Termites: processing techniques in East and West Africa ........................... 109
9.2 Environmental economics .............................................................................. 113
9.3 Application of edible insects: insects as the missing link in
designing a circular economy ........................................................................114
10.1 Processing the mopane caterpillar for human consumption ......................118
10.2 The stink bug Nezara robusta in southern Africa ........................................121
10.3 Bogong moths in Australia ........................................................................... 122
10.4 The allergy–hygiene hypothesis ................................................................... 124
11.1 The red palm weevil (Rynchophorous ferrugineus) as an important
source of nutrition and livelihood in New Guinea ...................................... 127
11.2 Cambodian spiders ........................................................................................ 128
11.3 Edible insect consumption and indigenous peoples .................................. 129
12.1 Harvesting, processing and trade of mopane caterpillars ......................... 132
12.2 Wholesale markets in Thailand .................................................................... 133
12.3 Feasibility study before starting a street-food business ............................. 133
12.4 The Dutch Insect Farmers Association ......................................................... 134
12.5 FAO Diversification Booklet 18, Selling Street and Snack Food ................. 13 6
12.6 Ethnic foods through migration: the export of caterpillars from
Africa to France and Belgium ....................................................................... 139
12.7 Japanese trade in wasps ............................................................................... 139
13.1 How can people with an aversion to insects understand and accept
that insects are palatable? .............................................................................141
13.2 Edible insect cookbooks ............................................................................... 142
13.3 Established approaches used in education for sustainable
development .................................................................................................. 143
13. 4 The Food Insects Newsletter ........................................................................ 144
13.5 International knowledge-sharing between developing countries
on the use of edible insects in diets ............................................................. 148
13.6 The Nordic Food Lab ..................................................................................... 150
13.7 Konchu Ryori Kenkyukai ................................................................................151
14 .1 FAO LEX ........................................................................................................... 153
14.2 Barriers to market establishment in the European Union .......................... 155
14.3 Codex Alimentarius ....................................................................................... 156
14.4 Definition of novel food by the European Commission ............................. 158
vii
Figures
2.1 Recorded number of edible insect species, by country .................................. 9
2.2 Number of insect species, by order, consumed worldwide .......................... 10
2.3 Monthly rainfall (top) and monthly occurrence of meals of fish,
caterpillars and game in 15 consecutive months in the Lake Tumba
region, Democratic Republic of the Congo ................................................... 16
2.4 Temporal availability of edible insects, wild plants and subsistence
crops for the Popoloca people of Los Reyes Metzontla Puebla, Mexico ..... 20
4.1 Distribution of insects, by order, Brazil ......................................................... 50
4.2 Geographic distribution of Oecophylla species ............................................ 57
5.1 Efficiencies of production of conventional meat and crickets ..................... 60
5.2 Use of insects in the animal feed chain ......................................................... 61
5.3 Relative GHG contributions along the livestock food chain ......................... 62
5.4 Production of GHGs and ammonia per kg of mass gain for three
insect species, pigs and beef cattle ................................................................ 63
5.5 Greenhouse gas production (global warming potential), energy
use and land use due to the production of 1 kg of protein from
mealworms, milk, pork, chicken and beef..................................................... 64
7.1 International wholesale market price for fish oil and fishmeal,
CIF Hamburg .................................................................................................... 90
7.2 The proportional use of different types of feed by Ugandan
fish farmers ...................................................................................................... 92
9.1 Agriprotein fly protein production process.................................................. 111
9.2 Agriprotein value/production chain .............................................................112
9.3 Insects as the missing link: ecology designs a circular economy ................. 115
Tables
2.1 Abundance of caterpillars in Central Africa .................................................. 17
2.2 Availability of edible insects, Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
by month .......................................................................................................... 17
2.3 Availability of edible insects in Thailand, by month ..................................... 18
2.4 Available insect and insect products for the Popoloca people of
Los Reyes Metzontla Puebla, Mexico ............................................................. 19
4.1 Edible species considered as pests of global or local importance in
agro-ecosystems, which could be controlled through strategies of
alternative management and used widely for human consumption .......... 56
5.1 The animal sector‘s contribution to GHG emissions ..................................... 62
6.1 Examples of energy content of differently processed insect species,
by region .......................................................................................................... 68
6.2 Crude protein content, by insect order ......................................................... 69
6.3 Comparison of average protein content among insects, reptiles,
fish and mammals ........................................................................................... 69
6.4 Variation in insect protein along subsequent metamorphosis
phases of the variegated grasshopper, Zonocerus variegatus (raw),
Ogun state, Nigeria ....................................................................................... 70
6.5 Fat content and randomly selected fatty acids of several edible
insect species consumed in Cameroon .......................................................... 72
viii
6.6 Recommended intake of essential minerals per day compared with
the mopane caterpillar (Imbrasia belina) ...................................................... 73
6.7 Average approximate analysis of selected Tenebrio molitor and
beef as a percentage of dry matter except for moisture content ............... 75
6.8 Average amino acid content of Tenebrio molitor and beef
(amounts in g/kg dry matter unless stated otherwise) ................................ 75
6.9 Fatty acid content of Tenebrio molitor and beef on a dry matter basis ..... 76
6.10 Annual consumption of invertebrates in the Tukanoan village of
Iapu (Rio Papuri, Vaupes, Columbia), composed of about 100 people ....... 78
6.11 Traditional food items of four indigenous communities from different
parts of the world: the Awajun (Peru), the Ingano (Colombia),
the Karen (Thailand) and the Igbo (Nigeria) ................................................ 79
8.1 Favourable characteristics of insects for automated
production systems ....................................................................................... 103
9.1 Important aspects of large-scale production of edible insects ..................110
14.1 Maximum permissible levels of insect contamination in food products .... 154
ix
Foreword
It is widely accepted that by 2050 the world will host 9 billion people. To accomodate this
number, current food production will need to almost double. Land is scarce and expanding
the area devoted to farming is rarely a viable or sustainable option. Oceans are overfished
and climate change and related water shortages could have profound implications for
food production. To meet the food and nutrition challenges of today – there are nearly
1 billion chronically hungry people worldwide – and tomorrow, what we eat and how
we produce it needs to be re-evaluated. Inefficiencies need to be rectified and food waste
reduced. We need to find new ways of growing food.
Edible insects have always been a part of human diets, but in some societies there is
a degree of distaste for their consumption. Although the majority of edible insects are
gathered from forest habitats, innovation in mass-rearing systems has begun in many
countries. Insects offer a significant opportunity to merge traditional knowledge and
modern science in both developed and developing countries.
This publication has its beginnings in an effort in FAO’s Forestry Department to
recognize the traditional practices of gathering insects for food and income, and to
document the related ecological impacts on forest habitats. Thereafter, FAO embraced the
opportunity to collaborate with the Laboratory of Entomology at Wageningen University
in the Netherlands – an institution at the forefront of fundamental and applied research
on insects as food and feed. This combined effort has since gained momentum and is
unfolding into a broad-based effort at FAO to examine the multiple dimensions of insect
gathering and rearing as a viable option for alleviating food insecurity.
This book draws on a wide range of scientific research on the contribution that insects
make to ecosystems, diets, food security and livelihoods in both developed and developing
countries. We hope that it will help raise the profile of insects as sources of food and feed
in national and international food agencies. We also hope that it attracts the attention of
farmers, the media, the public at large and decision-makers in governments, multilateral
and bilateral donor agencies, investment firms, research centres, aid agencies and the food
and feed industries. Above all, it is our hope that this publication will raise awareness of
the many valuable roles that insects play in sustaining nature and human life and will
also serve to document the contribution insects already make to diversifying diets and
improving food security.
Eduardo Rojas-Briales Ernst van den Ende
Assistant Director-General Managing Director
FAO Forestry Department Department of Plant Sciences Group
Wageningen University and Research Centre
x
Abbreviations
BCE Before Common Era
BSE bovine spongiform encephalopathy
CABIN Central African Biodiversity Information Network
CE Common Era
CGRFA FAO’s Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
CH4 methane
CO2 carbon dioxide
CRGB Centre de Recherche pour la Gestion de la Biodiversité (Benin)
EFSA European Food Safety Agency
ESBL extended spectrum beta-lactamase
EU European Union
FBF fortified blended foods
g gram
GHG greenhouse gas
GWP global warming potential
HACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points system
IFIF International Feed Industry Federation
INFOODS International Network of Food Data Systems
IPM integrated pest management
kg kilogram
N2O nitrous oxide
NGO non-governmental organization
NWFP non-wood forest product
PAP processed animal protein
RDA recommended dietary allowances
SEPALI Madagascar Organization of Silk Workers
SPS Agreement Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary
Measures
VENIK Dutch Insect Farmers Association
WHO World Health Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
WUR Wageningen University and Research Centre
xi
Authors’ preface
Insects are often considered a nuisance to human beings and mere pests for crops and
animals. Yet this is far from the truth. Insects provide food at low environmental cost,
contribute positively to livelihoods, and play a fundamental role in nature. However,
these benefits are largely unknown to the public. Contrary to popular belief, insects
are not merely “famine foods” eaten in times of food scarcity or when purchasing and
harvesting “conventional foods” becomes difficult; many people around the world eat
insects out of choice, largely because of the palatability of the insects and their established
place in local food cultures.
In 2008, within the framework of the Wageningen University–FAO partnership, a
few researchers came together and began reviewing an extensive array of published and
unpublished research and information on insect rearing and consumption. Their intention
was to break down the aforementioned misconceptions and contribute positively to the
development of the edible insects sector. The subject of edible insects inherently covers a
wide range of thematic areas, from the conservation of habitats where insects are harvested
to insect ecology, the artificial rearing of insect species, the processing of insects into
food and feed products, and the labelling and marketing of insect-based food and feed
products. This publication, therefore, draws from a wide range of disciplines and areas
of expertise. It is a multidisciplinary effort involving technical experts specializing in
forestry, animal farming, nutrition, the feed industry, legislation and food security policies.
This publication marks the first attempt by FAO to document all aspects of the insect
food and feed value chain, with the aim of enabling a comprehensive assessment of the
contribution of insects to food and feed security. It includes original research from around
the world, such as that carried out at Wageningen University. It also incorporates findings
from the International Expert Consultation on Assessing the Potential of Insects as Food
and Feed in Assuring Food Security, which took place at FAO headquarters in Rome,
Italy, on 23–25 January 2012. This meeting marked the beginning of a dialogue between
agricultural experts from various backgrounds and fostered an exchange of information
on the potential benefits of using insects for food and feed as part of a broader strategy
to achieve global food security. The participants at this meeting provided the authors
with a wealth of supplementary data and valuable insights. These helped to shape the
form and content of this book and its conclusions, which it is hoped can provide a basis
for solutions to alleviate food insecurity.
Insect rearing for food and feed remains a sector in its infancy, and key future challenges
will likely emerge as the field evolves. As such, readers are encouraged to contact the
authors with feedback on this book. Such contributions will undoubtedly assist the future
development of the sector.
Since the science of edible insects is still at a relatively pioneering stage, it boasts only
a few scientists of renown. One of those, Gene R. DeFoliart (1925–2013), died shortly
before this book was published. He spent his long academic career passionately raising
awareness of insects as a global food source, and he continued his work in this area long
after his retirement in July 1991. He was also the founder of The Food Insects Newsletter.
The authors dedicate this book to his memory.
xii
Acknowledgements
This book was made possible by the valuable contributions of many people with a variety
of backgrounds and from many parts of the world. Their ideas, papers and professional
activities all played a fundamental role in shaping this publication. Among them, special
thanks are extended to the 75 participants at the Expert Consultation Meeting on Assessing
the Potential of Insects as Food and Feed in Assuring Food Security, which was held in
Rome on 23–25 January 2012.1 Special thanks go to those who reviewed specific chapters
of this book: Christian Borgemeister, Eraldo Medeiros Costa-Neto, David Drew, Florence
Dunkel, Jørgen Eilenberg, Ying Feng, Parimalendu Haldar, Yupa Hanboonsong, Antoine
Hubert, Annette Bruun Jensen, Nonaka Kenichi, Andrew Müller, Maurizio Paoletti,
Julieta Ramos Elorduy Blásquez, Nanna Roos, Oliver Schneider, Severin Tchibozo and
Alan L. Yen.
Several FAO staff members kindly volunteered to review chapters relevant to their
areas of expertise: Philippe Ankers, Jan Breithaupt, Carmen Bullón, Ruth Charrondiere,
Persijn Diedelinde, Patrick Durst, Graham Hamley, Martin Hilmi, Edgar Kaeslin,
Blaise Kuemlangan, Harinder Makar, Verena Nowak, Koroma Suffyan, Patrice Talla,
Pieter Van Lierop and Philine Wehling. We thank them for their willingness to contribute
to such an interdisciplinary effort. Special thanks also go to staff at Wageningen University,
including Sarah van Broekhoven and Dennis Oonincx.
The authors are grateful to David McDonald and Alastair Sarre for editing, Yde Jongema
for checking the Latin names of the insects, Kate Ferrucci for design and layout, Susy Tafuro
and Lucia Travertino Grande for the administrative handling of the manuscript from
printing through to distribution, and Maria DiCristofaro and Alison Small for media
support. Special thanks are due to Eva Müller, the Director of the Forest Economics,
Policy and Products Division at FAO, and Michael Martin, the previous director, who
both fully supported the Edible Insects Programme.
Above all, the authors acknowledge all people around the world for whom eating
insects is and has always been an integral part of daily life. They have provided time-
honoured understandings of edible insects and remain custodians of valuable knowledge
on the important roles that insects play in daily lives. These peoples are a key to the
continued practice of eating insects and the potential of edible insects as future sources
of food and feed.
1 For futher information, see www.fao.org/forestry/edibleinsects/74848/en/.
xiii
Executive summary
This book assesses the potential of insects as food and feed and gathers existing information
and research on edible insects. The assessment is based on the most recent and complete
data available from various sources and experts around the world.
Insects as food and feed emerge as an especially relevant issue in the twenty-first
century due to the rising cost of animal protein, food and feed insecurity, environmental
pressures, population growth and increasing demand for protein among the middle classes.
Thus, alternative solutions to conventional livestock and feed sources urgently need to
be found. The consumption of insects, or entomophagy, therefore contributes positively
to the environment and to health and livelihoods.
This publication grew from a small effort in 2003 in the FAO Forestry Department
to document the role of insects in traditional livelihood practices in Central Africa and
to assess the impact of harvesting insects in their natural habitats on the sustainability of
forests. This effort has since unfolded into a broad-based effort to examine the multiple
dimensions of insect gathering and rearing to clarify the potential that insects offer for
improving food security worldwide. The purpose of this book is to bring together for the
first time the many opportunities for, and constraints on, using insects as food and feed.
THE ROLE OF INSECTS
It is estimated that insects form part of the traditional diets of at least 2 billion people. More
than 1 900 species have reportedly been used as food. Insects deliver a host of ecological
services that are fundamental to the survival of humankind. They also play an important role
as pollinators in plant reproduction, in improving soil fertility through waste bioconversion,
and in natural biocontrol for harmful pest species, and they provide a variety of valuable
products for humans such as honey and silk and medical applications such as maggot therapy.
In addition, insects have assumed their place in human cultures as collection items and
ornaments and in movies, visual arts and literature. Globally, the most commonly consumed
insects are beetles (Coleoptera) (31 percent), caterpillars (Lepidoptera) (18 percent) and
bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera) (14 percent). Following these are grasshoppers, locusts
and crickets (Orthoptera) (13 percent), cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale insects and
true bugs (Hemiptera) (10 percent), termites (Isoptera) (3 percent), dragonflies (Odonata)
(3 percent), flies (Diptera) (2 percent) and other orders (5 percent).
CULTURE
Entomophagy is heavily influenced by cultural and religious practices, and insects are
commonly consumed as a food source in many regions of the world. In most Western
countries, however, people view entomophagy with disgust and associate eating insects
with primitive behaviour. This attitude has resulted in the neglect of insects in agricultural
research. Despite historical references to the use of insects for food, the topic of entomophagy
has only very recently started to capture public attention worldwide.
INSECTS AS A NATURAL RESOURCE
Edible insects inhabit a large variety of habitats, from aquatic ecosystems and farmed
land to forests. Until recently, insects were a seemingly inexhaustible resource obtainable
by harvesting from nature. However, some edible insect species are now in peril. A
number of anthropogenic factors, such as overharvesting, pollution, wildfire and habitat
degradation, have contributed to a decline in many edible insect populations. Climate
change will likely affect the distribution and availability of edible insects in ways that are
xiv
still relatively unknown. This publication includes case studies from several regions on
the conservation strategies and semi-cultivation practices of rural people to protect insect
species and their host plants. Such efforts contribute to improved habitat conservation.
ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITIES
The environmental benefits of rearing insects for food and feed are founded on the high
feed conversion efficiency of insects. Crickets, for example, require only 2 kilograms of
feed for every 1 kilogram of bodyweight gain. In addition, insects can be reared on organic
side-streams (including human and animal waste) and can help reduce environmental
contamination. Insects are reported to emit fewer greenhouse gases and less ammonia
than cattle or pigs, and they require significantly less land and water than cattle rearing.
Compared with mammals and birds, insects may also pose less risk of transmitting zoonotic
infections to humans, livestock and wildlife, although this topic requires further research.
NUTRITION FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
Insects are a highly nutritious and healthy food source with high fat, protein, vitamin, fibre
and mineral content. The nutritional value of edible insects is highly variable because of
the wide range of edible insect species. Even within the same group of species, nutritional
value may differ depending on the metamorphic stage of the insect, the habitat in which
it lives, and its diet. For example, the composition of unsaturated omega-3 and six fatty
acids in mealworms is comparable with that in fish (and higher than in cattle and pigs), and
the protein, vitamin and mineral content of mealworms is similar to that in fish and meat.
FARMING SYSTEMS
Most edible insects are harvested in the wild. However, some insect species, such as bees
and silkworms, have a long history of domestication because of the value of their products.
Insects are also reared in large numbers for the purposes of biological control (e.g. as
predators and parasitoids), health (e.g. maggot therapy) and pollination. The concept of
farming insects for food is, however, relatively new; an example of rearing insects for
human consumption in the tropics is cricket farming in the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam.
In temperate zones, insect farming is performed largely by family-run enterprises that
rear insects such as mealworms, crickets and grasshoppers in large quantities, mainly
as pets or for zoos. Some of these firms have only recently been able to commercialize
insects as food and feed, and the part of their production intended for direct human
consumption is still minimal.
A few industrial-scale enterprises are in various stages of start-up for rearing mass
quantities of insects such as black soldier flies. They are mainly for consumption as whole
insects or to be processed into meal for feed. Critical elements for successful rearing include
research on biology, rearing condition control and diet formulas for the farmed insect
species. Current production systems are expensive, with many patents pending. A major
challenge of such industrial-scale rearing is the development of automation processes to
make plants economically competitive with the production of meat (or meat-substitutes
like soy) from traditional livestock or farming sources.
INSECTS AS ANIMAL FEED
Recent high demand and consequent high prices for fishmeal/soy, together with increasing
aquacultural production, is pushing new research into the development of insect protein
for aquaculture and poultry. Insect-based feed products could have a similar market
to fishmeal and soy, which are presently the major components used in feed formulae
for aquaculture and livestock. Available evidence suggests that insect-based feeds are
comparable with fishmeal and soy-based feed formulae. Live and dead insects already
have established niche markets, mainly as feed given to pets and at zoos.
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PROCESSING
Insects are often consumed whole but can also be processed into granular or paste forms.
Extracting proteins, fats, chitin, minerals and vitamins is also possible. At present, such
extraction processes are too costly and will need to be further developed to render them
profitable and applicable for industrial use in the food and feed sectors.
FOOD SAFETY AND PRESERVATION
The processing and storage of insects and their products should follow the same health
and sanitation regulations as for any other traditional food or feed items in order to ensure
food safety. Because of their biological makeup, several issues should be considered,
such as microbial safety, toxicity, palatability and the presence of inorganic compounds.
Specific health implications should also be considered when insects for feed are reared
on waste products such as manure or slaughterhouse waste. Evidence of allergies induced
through the ingestion of insects is scarce, but does exist. Some cases have been reported
of allergic reactions to arthropods.
LIVELIHOOD IMPROVEMENT
Insect gathering and rearing as minilivestock at the household level or industrial scale
can offer important livelihood opportunities for people in both developing and developed
countries. In developing countries, some of the poorest members of society, such as
women and landless dwellers in urban and rural areas, can easily become involved in the
gathering, cultivation, processing and sale of insects. These activities can directly improve
their own diets and provide cash income through the selling of excess production as street
foods. Insects can be directly and easily collected from nature or farmed with minimal
technical or capital expenditure (i.e. for basic harvesting/rearing equipment). Rearing
insects may also require minimal land or market introduction efforts, as insects already
form part of some local food cultures.
Protein and other nutritional deficiencies are typically more widespread in disadvantaged
segments of society and during times of social conflict and natural disaster. Because of
their nutritional composition, accessibility, simple rearing techniques and quick growth
rates, insects can offer a cheap and efficient opportunity to counter nutritional insecurity
by providing emergency food and by improving livelihoods and the quality of traditional
diets among vulnerable people.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Gathering and farming insects can offer employment and cash income, either at the
household level or in larger, industrial-scale operations. In developing countries in Southern
and Central Africa and Southeast Asia, where demand for edible insects exists and where
it is relatively easy to bring insects to market, the process of insect gathering, rearing
and processing into street foods or for sale as chicken and fish feed is easily within reach
of small-scale enterprises. With only a few exceptions, international trade in insects for
food is insignificant. The trade that does exist to developed countries is often driven by
demand from immigrant communities or because of the development of niche markets
that sell exotic foods. Border trade in edible insects is significant, mainly in Southeast
Asia and Central Africa.
COMMUNIC ATIO N
The polarity of views surrounding the practice of entomophagy necessarily requires
tailormade communication approaches for each of the various stakeholders. In the tropics,
where entomophagy is well established, media communication strategies should promote
edible insects as valuable sources of nutrition to counter the growing westernization of
diets. Western societies require tailored media communication strategies and educational
programmes that address the disgust factor. Influencing the public at large as well as
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policymakers and investors in the food and feed sectors by providing validated information
on the potential of insects as food and feed sources can help to push insects higher on
political, investment and research agendas worldwide.
LEGISLATION
Regulatory frameworks governing food and feed chains have expanded tremendously in
the last 20 years; however, regulations governing insects as food and feed sources are still
largely absent. For developed countries, the absence of clear legislation and norms guiding
the use of insects as food and feed is among the major limiting factors hindering the
industrial development of farming insects to supply the food and feed sectors. In developing
countries, the use of insects for human or animal food is, in practice, more tolerated then
regulated. The feed sector seems to take the lead in pushing for the development of more
insect-encompassing norms, while the “novel food” concept seems to be emerging as a
leading instrument for setting rules and standards for the use of insects in human foods.
THE WAY FORWARD
Any effort to release the huge potential that insects offer for enhancing food security
requires that the following four key bottlenecks and challenges are addressed simultaneously.
First, further documentation is needed on the nutritional values of insects in order to
more efficiently promote insects as healthy food. Second, the environmental impacts of
harvesting and farming insects must be investigated to enable comparison with traditional
farming and livestock rearing practices that may be more environmentally damaging.
Third, clarification and augmentation of the socio-economic benefits that insect gathering
and farming can offer is needed, in particular to enhance the food security of the poorest
of society. Finally, a clear and comprehensive legal framework at (inter)national levels is
needed to pave the way for more investment, leading to the full development (from the
household to the industrial scale) of production and international trade in insect products
as food and feed sources.
1
1. Introduction
The practice of eating insects (Box 1.1) is known as entomophagy. Many animals,
such as spiders, lizards and birds, are entomophagous, as are many insects. People
throughout the world have been eating insects as a regular part of their diets for millennia.
Although this practice should be specified as human entomophagy, throughout this
book entomophagy refers to human entomophagy. The earliest citing of entomophagy
can be found in biblical literature; nevertheless, eating insects was, and still is, taboo
in many westernized societies. The unconventional nature of entomophagy has meant
that farming insects for food and feed has largely been absent from the great agricultural
innovations in livestock farming that emerged in past centuries – with a few exceptions,
such as bees, silkworms and scale insects (from which a red colorant is derived). Insects
have also failed to feature on the agendas of agricultural research and development
agencies worldwide, including at FAO. Until recently, references to insects for food
and feed have been largely anecdotal. It is therefore unsurprising that insects are still
lacking from the diets of many rich nations and that their sale for human consumption
remains part of a niche food sector of novelty snacks.
Nevertheless, insect consumption is not a new concept in many parts of the world. From
ants to beetle larvae – eaten by tribes in Africa and Australia as part of their subsistence
diets – to the popular, crispy-fried locusts and beetles enjoyed in Thailand, it is estimated
that insect-eating is practised regularly by at least 2 billion people worldwide. More
than 1 900 insect species have been documented in literature as edible, most of them
in tropical countries. The most commonly eaten insect groups are beetles, caterpillars,
bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, cicadas, leaf and planthoppers, scale
insects and true bugs, termites, dragonflies and flies.
BOX 1.1
What are insects?
The word insect derives from the Latin word insectum, meaning “with a notched or
divided body”, literally “cut into sections”, from the fact that insects’ bodies have three
parts. Pliny the Elder created the word, translating the Greek word ἔντομος (entomos) or
insect (as in entomology, which was Aristotle’s term for this class of life), also in reference
to their “notched” bodies. The term was first documented in English in 1601 in Holland’s
translation of Pliny (Harpe and McCormack, 2001).
Insects are a class of animals within the arthropod group that have a chitinous
exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs,
compound eyes and two antennae. They are among the most diverse groups of animals
on the planet: there are more than 1 million described species, which is more than half of
all known living organisms. The total number of species is estimated at 6–10 million, and
the class potentially represents over 90 percent of the differing animal life forms on Earth.
Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species
occur in the oceans, a habitat dominated by another ar thropod group, the crustaceans.
Insect facts:
• Insectshaveanexoskeletontoprotec tthemfromtheenvironment.
• Insectsaretheonlywingedinver tebrates. Continues
Edible insects: future prospects for food and feed security
2
This publication also covers other arthropod species eaten by humans, such as spiders
and scorpions, which, taxonomically speaking, are not insects.
1.1 WHY EAT INSECTS?
Overall, entomophagy can be promoted for three reasons:
• Health:
-
Insects are healthy, nutritious alternatives to mainstream staples such as chicken,
pork, beef and even fish (from ocean catch).
-
Many insects are rich in protein and good fats and high in calcium, iron and zinc.
- Insects already form a traditional part of many regional and national diets.
• Environmental:
-
Insects promoted as food emit considerably fewer greenhouse gases (GHGs) than
most livestock (methane, for instance, is produced by only a few insect groups,
such as termites and cockroaches).
-
Insect rearing is not necessarily a land-based activity and does not require
landclearing to expand production. Feed is the major requirement for land.
-
The ammonia emissions associated w