Edible insects in mixed-sourced protein meals for animal feed and food: an EU focus

Despite insects being nutritious and a sustainable protein source, entomophagy is not widely accepted by Western consumers. After EFSA's positive risk assessment report, few species can be legally farmed and processed in the EU under measures set out in Novel Foods regulation 2015/2283. This review summarizes scientific progress in the applications of insects as feed and complementary proteins in foods during the past five years including legislative frameworks covering this trajectory. Despite numerous opportunities presented, insects farming still faces challenges such as gaps in legislative policies, high initial R&D costs, and high costs involved in Life Cycle Assessment. As with other novel foods, insect production requires new value chains and attention to standardization, food safety-related issues, certification for mass production, and consumer acceptance. Therefore, the roles of public sector, scientific community, local authorities, and legislative bodies are extremely important in increasing awareness of sustainability implications and benefits of insects as food and feed.