Insects as global opportunity

The growing world population and the rising of economic prosperity are driving the increase of the demand for new nutrients for animal and human nutrition. In particular, proteins are a topic of major concern. Among the conventional protein sources used in animal feed, fishmeal, and soybean meal are probably the ones most accused of being less sustainable. As far as fishmeal is concerned, traditionally produced as f ish not considered interesting for human consumption, it is known that since the 1990s, the quantities that can be fished have reached the limit. On the other hand, soybean meal production is associated with high environmental impacts due to deforesting of land, long transportation distances, and the loss of biodiversity. This land could be used to produce aliments for directly human consumption. To face the increasing demand of nutrients for feed and food production, new ingredients and in particular new protein sources are being sought worldwide. These alternative proteins must have a good nutritional value and must be produced sustainable and preferably local. Insects can be part of the solution and the last decade has seen a growing interest in using insects as a sustainable and nutritious source of raw material for animal feed. Insects contain many nutrients such as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals and are consumed in nature by many animal species. Moreover, edible insects are also consumed humanly. Insects are very capable of converting residual products from the food chain into high-quality nutrients and this stimulates circularity, which is extremely important in these times with a scarcity of raw materials. Worldwide, we see that there is increasing attention for rearing insects as a source of nutrients, how these insects should be reared and fed, how the insects can be processed into an ingredient, how to use them in human food and animal feed, how the safety of these insects can be guaranteed in the food chain and how sustainable it is to include insects as an important link in the food chain.