Insects as food and feed – the legal perspective

Future for insect products in poultry feed
Considerable opportunities exist for using insects in feed as seen by the 10% rise in global sales in the past year, according to Nuffield scholar Aidan Leek. Dr Leek said the insect sector was currently the fastest growing animal feed sector and was helping meet huge protein demand. He cited the launch of the first insect-fed salmon, branded as Friendly Salmon, by Protix earlier this year as an example of the growing market, which may be niche but has potential. Dr Leek said it was likely that insects would be allowed to be fed to poultry in 2019/2020 and the challenge would be whether this would replace soymeal. Most likely products for the UK market would be the lesser or greater mealworm as dry material or the black soldier fly, house fly or blow fly. Insects can be fed on organic waste, improving food supply efficiencies and improving sustainable food supply chains. They also provided a number of opportunities in poultry feed, he said, including:

• Being high in protein – suitable insects are around 40-60% crude protein
• Having a high quality amino acid profile – better than vegetable protein sources
• Being high in micro-nutrients

One issue however, was that they were quite a high source of calcium (2.5%-8%) which might represent a challenge to broiler growers. Dr Leek added that insect oil, as a by-product of insect processing for pet or aqua feed, might actually feature in poultry diets before insect protein. But the prevalence of soya in the supply chain, the slow progress of legislation in this area and consumer and retailer acceptance could all prove barriers. Volumes of insects needed to be commercially viable was also an issue, which might mean insect feeding to poultry remains a niche rather than a commodity.

Pest risk analysis for Black Soldier Fly
Risks posed by the introduction of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) for protein production and waste management are minimal, according to leading entomologist Archie Murchie. Dr Murchie, senior scientific officer at the Agrifood and Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland, told the conference that the fly was unlikely to persist in the wild in Ireland. Dr Murchie said the insect – originally from South America, native to south east US states and now established in southern and central Europe – had been found as far north as the Czech Republic but would not survive the cool, temperate climate of Ireland and the UK. “Larvae can survive down to 0°C for up to 4 hours but generally for mating is dependent on temperatures of 24°C and they need strong sunlight,” he said. There are, however, believed to be 47 varieties of native soldier fly in Great Britain and 32 in Ireland. These feed on dung heaps but they don’t pose any known disease transmission risk and have been found to reduce levels of E.coli and Salmonella. As a result, they are not considered a pest species or a particular threat to biodiversity.