How much of a solution is eating insects
The opportunity to lower GHG’s by eating insects are overstated
The apparent benefit to GHG is explained by a failure to consider the whole life cycle of insects
The rearing phase is the greatest contributor to overall impact (12.4 kgCO2-eq/kg cricket out of 21.1 kgCO2-eq/kg cricket), of which heating accounts for 3.71 kgCO2-eq/kg cricket. However, in contrast to the other impact categories, the next most significant life cycle phase is application of frass to land (11 kgCO2-eq/kg cricket) due to the assumed conversion of biotic carbon to CO2, followed by processing for export (3.26 kgCO2-eq/kg cricket). Feed production is the fourth largest contributor with only 0.348 kgCO2-eq/kg cricket (approximately 1.6% of total climate change potential).
🔗Source: The environmental impact of rearing crickets for live pet food in the UK, and implications of a transition to a hybrid business model combining production for live pet food with production for human consumption
Taken all together the GHG’s emissions from the insects compare to egg production.
Can Insects feel pain?
Its complicated by lack of evidence but for where testing has been done the answer is yes.
The entomology literature has historically suggested insects cannot feel pain, leading to their exclusion from ethical debates and animal welfare legislation. However, there may be more neural and cognitive/behavioural evidence for pain in insects than previously considered….According to the Birch et al. framework, adult Diptera (flies and mosquitoes) and Blattodea (cockroaches and termites) satisfy six criteria, constituting strong evidence for pain. Adults of the remaining orders (except Coleoptera, beetles) and some juveniles (Blattodea and Diptera, as well as last instar Lepidoptera [butterflies and moths]) satisfy 3–4 criteria, or “substantial evidence for pain”
🔗Source: Chapter Three - Can insects feel pain? A review of the neural and behavioural evidence
Mic the Vegan pulls together this evidence
Is Insect farming even safe?
“Edible insects may be the most important parasite vector for domestic insectivorous animals”
“The most commonly used species of insects are: mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), house crickets (Acheta domesticus ), cockroaches (Blattodea) and migratory locusts (Locusta migrans). In this context, the unfathomable issue is the role of edible insects in transmitting parasitic diseases that can cause significant losses in their breeding and may pose a threat to humans and animals”
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
So what exactly is the risk ?
A study identified and evaluated “the developmental forms of parasites colonizing edible insects in household farms and pet stores in Central Europe and to determine the potential risk of parasitic infections for humans and animals… Parasites were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans….According to our studies the future research should focus on the need for constant monitoring of studied insect farms for pathogens, thus increasing food and feed safety.”
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
Constant monitoring requires very elaborate processes
To my untrained eyes what follows is a description of a very complex process to find pathogens inside insects - which involves expensive equipment and skilled technical staff, and ‘constant monitoring’, taken together this will make sufficient monitoring unsustainable.
Insects were immobilized by inducing chill coma at a temperature of -30°C for 20 minutes. Hibernation was considered effective when legs, mandibles and antennae did not respond to tactile stimuli. Hibernating insects were decapitated and dissected to harvest digestive tracts. Digestive tracts were ground in a sieve and examined by Fulleborn’s floatation method with Darling’s solution (50% saturated NaCl solution and 50% glycerol). The samples were centrifuged at 3500 x for 5 minutes. Three specimens were obtained from every sample, and they were examined under a light microscope (at 200x, 400x and 1000x magnification). The remaining body parts were examined for the presence of parasitic larvae under the Leica M165C stereoscopic microscope (at 7.2x-120x magnification) The remaining body parts were analyzed according the method proposed by Kirkor with some modifications, by grinding body parts in a mortar with a corresponding amount of water and 0.5 ml of ether. The resulting suspensions were filtered into test tubes to separate large particles and were centrifuged at 3500x for 5 minutes. After loosening the debris plug, the top three layers of suspension were discarded. Three specimens were obtained, and they were analyzed according to the procedure described above.
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
From 300 farms 19 different parasites and pathogens were discovered.
Parasitic developmental forms were detected in 244 (81.33%) out of 300 (100%) examined insect farms. In 206 (68.67%) of the cases, the identified parasites were pathogenic for insects only; in 106 (35.33%) cases, parasites were potentially parasitic for animals; and in 91 (30.33%) cases, parasites were potentially pathogenic for humans.
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
Parasite list
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
A wide spread risk
The growing popularity of exotic pets has also increased the demand for novel foods. However, edible insects are often infected by pathogens and parasites which cause significant production losses [3]. These pathogens also pose an indirect threat for humans, livestock and exotic animals. The majority of insect farming enterprises in the world are household businesses
🔗 Source:Giving creepy crawlies a significant role to play in Malaysia’s foodtech industry
Even minimising the risk could be expensive
“Our observations confirm that the risk of parasitic infections can be substantially minimized when insects are farmed in a closed environment. The high prevalence of selected developmental forms of parasites in the evaluated insect farms could be attributed to low hygiene standards and the absence of preventive treatments” closed environments are not the most common forms of insect farming.
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
In conclusion
Edible insects act as important vectors for the transmission of parasites to insectivorous pets. Insect farms that do not observe hygiene standards or are established in inappropriate locations (eg. houses) can pose both direct and indirect risks for humans and animals. Therefore, farms supplying edible insects have to be regularly monitored for parasites to guarantee the safety of food and feed sources. Amount of parasites is related to cause the human and animal diseases therefore in the future quantitative studies of parasite intensity in insect farms should be performed. In our opinion, the most reliable method of quantitative research would be Real-Time PCR method. Insect welfare standards and analytical methods should also be developed to minimize production losses and effectively eliminate pathogens from farms
🔗 Source: A parasitological evaluation of edible insects and their role in the transmission of parasitic diseases to humans and animals
In conclusion, while insect farming may have some potential benefits, compared to the worst polluters, and such as lowering greenhouse gas emissions there are many unknowns, significant risks and challenges to consider. These include the potential transmission of parasites and the need for constant monitoring, which may not be feasible, cost-effective or sustainable. If this were a scientific paper you would read something like “more research and development is needed to determine if insect farming is a viable and sustainable solution for the future”. But this is not - we should NOT consider this as a viable alternative to the harms of Factory Farming.
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