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Approaching Ecological Sustainability in the Emerging Insects-as-Food Industry

2019; Elsevier BV; Volume: 34; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.tree.2018.11.005

1872-8383

Åsa Berggren, Anna Jansson, Matthew Low,

Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Insects-as-food is an emerging industry in Western countries as a solution to increased animal protein demand. Environmental sustainability is a key justification for its development; however, a lack of basic research on almost all aspects of production means the future environmental impact of the mass rearing of insects is largely unknown. Sustainability will be mostly determined by the insect species reared, type of feed used, waste utilisation and management, facility design, and geographic location – as these will heavily influence the amount and quality of protein produced per resource unit input and waste output. We outline where ecologists and animal scientists need to urgently focus their research efforts related to key criteria of the insects-as-food industry to ensure its development is in line with long-term ecological sustainability. The emerging insects-as-food industry is increasingly promoted as a sustainable alternative to other animal protein production systems. However, the exact nature of its environmental benefits are uncertain because of the overwhelming lack of knowledge concerning almost every aspect of production: from suitable species, their housing and feed requirements, and potential for accidental release. If ecological sustainability is to be a hallmark of mass insect rearing for consumption, ecologists need to engage in research related to sustainability criteria that are directly linked to key elements of the development of the industry. There is more to this subject than simply comparing feed-conversion ratios (FCRs) of insects to traditional livestock production, and we highlight areas where research needs to be immediately focused. The emerging insects-as-food industry is increasingly promoted as a sustainable alternative to other animal protein production systems. However, the exact nature of its environmental benefits are uncertain because of the overwhelming lack of knowledge concerning almost every aspect of production: from suitable species, their housing and feed requirements, and potential for accidental release. If ecological sustainability is to be a hallmark of mass insect rearing for consumption, ecologists need to engage in research related to sustainability criteria that are directly linked to key elements of the development of the industry. There is more to this subject than simply comparing feed-conversion ratios (FCRs) of insects to traditional livestock production, and we highlight areas where research needs to be immediately focused. As the global appetite for animal protein increases [1Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The State of Food And Agriculture – Livestock in the Balance. FAO, 2009Google Scholar, 2Tilman D. et al.Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture.Proc. Natl. 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The bug-eating kit that may help humanity survive future global food shortages. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/a-designer-has-created-a-bug-eating-kit-to-save-humanity-a7583071.htmlGoogle Scholar, 1111. Gerrard, B. (2017) The Daily Telegraph 17 April. Could edible insects soon be flying off the shelves? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/16/could-edible-insects-soon-flying-shelves/Google Scholar, 12Maloney, J. (2017) The Wall Street Journal 15 October. The race to find meatless protein products. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-race-to-find-meatless-protein-products-1508119681Google Scholar]. Aside from the curiosity value of eating insects (at least from a western perspective), the main reasons why insect mass rearing is being taken seriously is the nutritional value of the insects [13Makkar H.P.S. et al.State-of-the-art on use of insects as animal feed.Anim. Feed Sci. 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Entomol. 1991; 84: 891-896Crossref Google Scholar, 18Weiger A. et al.Beef or grasshopper hamburgers: the ecological implications of choosing one over the other.Basic Appl. Ecol. 2018; 26: 89-100Crossref Scopus (21) Google Scholar]. It is this efficiency that has sparked the most interest, with it having major implications for the economics and environmental sustainability of this fledging industry (especially relative to many livestock systems; [3van Huis A. Potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security.Ann. Rev. Entomol. 2013; 58: 563-583Crossref PubMed Scopus (939) Google Scholar, 4van Huis A. Oonincx D.G.A.B. The environmental sustainability of insects as food and feed. A review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2017; 37: 43Crossref Scopus (340) Google Scholar]). However, for insect rearing to have a noticeable impact on the sustainability of worldwide protein production, mass intensive rearing will be needed at levels dwarfing the current wild-harvest and small-scale production. It is in the details of this upscaling of production that the true environmental impact of this industry will be largely determined. While it is true that insects may offer significantly better FCRs and a smaller land-use footprint compared to traditional livestock systems [19Oonincx, D.G.A.B. (2017) Environmental impact of insect production. In Insects as Food and Feed: From Production to Consumption (van Huis, A. and Tomberlin, J.K., eds.), pp. 78-99, Wageningen Academic Publishers.Google Scholar], this does not guarantee that the insects-as-food industry will be environmentally friendly. It is now, during inception of the industry, that critical discussions about sustainability need to be undertaken and initiation of the science needed to identify the factors driving its environmental impacts. Otherwise we risk creating an industry that replaces one environmental problem with another (e.g., as occurred with biofuel [20Zivkovic S.B. et al.Technological, technical, economic, environmental, social, human health risks, toxicological and policy considerations of biodiesel production and use.Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2017; 79: 222-247Crossref Scopus (100) Google Scholar]). Thus, our aim in this paper is not to provide a comprehensive review of the state of the industry (for that see [21van Huis A. Tomberlin J.K. Insects as Food and Feed: From Production to Consumption. Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2017Crossref Google Scholar]), but rather to highlight a number of pressing issues related to sustainability where ecologists can be at the forefront of discussions and research about this production system. From this, we suggest priority areas where research attention is needed if we want evidence-based decisions to drive policy and industry development towards environmental sustainability goals. Obviously, the importance to environmental sustainability of an organism that consumes fewer resources per output of animal protein is significant [18Weiger A. et al.Beef or grasshopper hamburgers: the ecological implications of choosing one over the other.Basic Appl. Ecol. 2018; 26: 89-100Crossref Scopus (21) Google Scholar]. However, simply demonstrating that insects are more efficient at converting organic matter (and perhaps also water) into edible protein is only the beginning of the discussion. We now need to focus on how this efficiency relates to factors within the production chain: (i) the species used and its life-stage at harvest; (ii) the origin and production of feed provided for the insects; (iii) when should insects be consumed directly, and when are there benefits to use them as livestock feed; and (iv) the industry infrastructure: husbandry, facilities, processing, and transport. In most cases, these details and the science behind them are largely missing; thus, there is huge potential for environmental gains to be made through basic biological and ecological research related to this field. There are >2000 edible insect species recorded [22Mitsuhashi J. Edible Insects of the World. Taylor & Francis, 2017Google Scholar] and these have many different nutritional and feed-conversion profiles: species commonly reared in the pet food industry show large within- and between-species variation in their nutrient composition and FCR [23Collavo A. et al.House cricket small-scale farming.in: Paoletti M.G. Ecological Implications of Minilivestock: Potential of Insects, Rodents, Frogs and Snails. Science Publishers, 2005Google Scholar, 24Oonincx D.G.A.B. et al.An exploration on greenhouse gas and ammonia production by insect species suitable for animal human consumption.PLoS One. 2010; 5e14445Crossref PubMed Scopus (434) Google Scholar, 25Oonincx D.G.A.B. de Boer I.J.M. Environmental impact of the production of mealworms as protein source for humans – a life cycle assessment.PLoS One. 2012; 7e51145Crossref PubMed Scopus (444) Google Scholar, 26Finke D.F. Complete nutrient content of four species of commercially available feeder insects fed enhanced diets during growth.Zoo Biol. 2015; 34: 554-564Crossref PubMed Scopus (144) Google Scholar]. For example, the FCR for larval stage Tenebrio molitor and nymphal stage Acheta domesticus ranges from 2.2 to 5.3 and from 1.6 to 4.5, respectively, depending on the diet and life stage. It is also clear from individual studies [27Miech P. et al.Growth and survival of reared Cambodian field crickets (Teleogryllus testaceus) fed weeds, agricultural and food industry by-products.J. Insect Food Feed. 2016; 2: 285-292Crossref Scopus (43) Google Scholar] and life cycle assessments (LCAs) [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 29Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of cricket farming in north-eastern Thailand.J. Clean. Prod. 2017; 156: 83-94Crossref Scopus (94) Google Scholar] that the feed used for insect rearing plays a large role in the efficiency of them converting this into protein. In the majority of current conventional livestock production systems, a significant part of the diets consisting of feed that could be otherwise consumed by people is fed to animals (e.g., starch rich plants, fish, peas, and beans are used to produce meat, milk, and eggs [30Rosamond L. et al.Effect of aquaculture on world fish supplies.Nature. 2000; 405: 1017-1024Crossref PubMed Scopus (2106) Google Scholar]), dramatically reducing the system efficiency. From a sustainability perspective, the possibility of using feed that is otherwise unavailable as food for people (e.g., agricultural by-products [27Miech P. et al.Growth and survival of reared Cambodian field crickets (Teleogryllus testaceus) fed weeds, agricultural and food industry by-products.J. Insect Food Feed. 2016; 2: 285-292Crossref Scopus (43) Google Scholar]) improves the system feed conversion efficiency when viewing livestock rearing as part of an integrated agricultural system. It is important to study the extent to which insects can utilise byproducts (e.g., [27Miech P. et al.Growth and survival of reared Cambodian field crickets (Teleogryllus testaceus) fed weeds, agricultural and food industry by-products.J. Insect Food Feed. 2016; 2: 285-292Crossref Scopus (43) Google Scholar, 31Megido R.C. et al.Optimisation of a cheap and residential small-scale production of edible crickets with local by-products as an alternative protein-rich human food source in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.J. Sci. Food Agric. 2016; 96: 627-632Crossref PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar]) and how and where this utilisation efficiency differs from conventional livestock. This links directly with how insect protein enters the human food chain: that is, are insects being mass reared for human food or livestock feed? Thus, insect rearing for livestock feed should largely focus on scenarios where insects can convert something that is potentially toxic or metabolically unavailable for the animals in question into a safe source of protein [32Lalander C.H. et al.High waste-to-biomass conversion and efficient Salmonella spp. reduction using black soldier fly for waste recycling.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2015; 35: 261-271Crossref Scopus (178) Google Scholar, 33van der Fels-Klerx H.J. et al.Food safety issues related to uses of insects for feeds and foods.Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf. 2018; 17: 1172-1183Crossref Scopus (93) Google Scholar]. Finally, as with traditional livestock rearing, how the ecology and biology of the animals interact with facility design and management will play a role in the well-being and potentially the efficiency of feed conversion of the animals. However, unlike traditional systems, many of the management factors influencing insect growth under mass-rearing conditions have not been well studied [34Berggren Å. et al.Using current systems to inform rearing facility design in the insect-as-food industry.J. Insect Food Feed. 2018; 4: 167-170Crossref Scopus (15) Google Scholar]. Some sort of empirical measure of ecological impact and sustainability of production is critical if we want to compare resource consumption: (i) between different insect production systems; (ii) to the current gains and losses being made in traditional livestock rearing; and (iii) to the concepts of planetary boundaries and six key measures of sustainability (climate change, biosphere integrity, biochemical flows, freshwater use, land-system change, and human and livestock health) [35Rockström J. et al.A safe operating space for humanity.Nature. 2009; 461: 472-475Crossref PubMed Scopus (6695) Google Scholar, 36Steffen W. et al.Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet.Science. 2015; 3471259855Crossref PubMed Scopus (5104) Google Scholar]. LCAs are central in this regard and have only recently been applied to insect rearing systems [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 29Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of cricket farming in north-eastern Thailand.J. Clean. Prod. 2017; 156: 83-94Crossref Scopus (94) Google Scholar, 32Lalander C.H. et al.High waste-to-biomass conversion and efficient Salmonella spp. reduction using black soldier fly for waste recycling.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2015; 35: 261-271Crossref Scopus (178) Google Scholar, 33van der Fels-Klerx H.J. et al.Food safety issues related to uses of insects for feeds and foods.Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf. 2018; 17: 1172-1183Crossref Scopus (93) Google Scholar]. These LCAs are not only starting to highlight where the main issues for sustainability lie (e.g., economics and environmental consequences of alternative feed sources, and potential issues with waste disposal [37Smetana S. et al.Sustainability of insect use for feed and food: life cycle assessment.J. Clean. Prod. 2016; 137: 741-751Crossref Scopus (198) Google Scholar]), but also where research is needed to close the large knowledge gaps that exist within these assessments (e.g., the lack of in situ feed conversion data for different husbandry systems [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar]). LCAs will also be critical for assessing the importance of the two variables that interact with all other factors in the system (i.e., insect species and geographic location) and largely determine the degree to which they influence the key measures of sustainability. Species have different feed, housing requirements, and life histories; while the location of the industry will influence how insects are housed, the feed crops available, and the environmental risk of accidental release. The risk of commercial insect species becoming locally invasive should not be easily discounted, especially since the cost of invasive species to natural and production systems are enormous (an estimated 14% reduction in global food production as a result [38Pimentel D. et al.Area-wide pest management: environmental, economic, and food issues.in: Vreysen M.J.B. Area-wide Control of Insect Pests: From Research to Field Implementation. Springer, 2007Crossref Scopus (24) Google Scholar, 39Kenis M. Branco M. Impact of alien terrestrial arthropods in Europe.BioRisk. 2010; 4: 51-71Crossref Google Scholar]). Even where species like the black soldier fly Hermetia illucens seem unlikely to establish based on extrapolation from laboratory experiments [40Spranghers T. et al.Cold hardiness of the balck soldier fly (Diptera Stratiomyidae).J. Econ. Entomol. 2017; 110: 1501-1507Crossref PubMed Scopus (27) Google Scholar], there is mounting evidence that they could, in fact, establish in these and other areas under certain conditions [40Spranghers T. et al.Cold hardiness of the balck soldier fly (Diptera Stratiomyidae).J. Econ. Entomol. 2017; 110: 1501-1507Crossref PubMed Scopus (27) Google Scholar, 41Jonsell M. Black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, invasive food?.Entomologisk Tidskrift. 2017; 138 (in Swedish): 231-232Google Scholar, 42Rohácek J. Hora M. A northernmost European record of the alien black soldier fly Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae).Cas. Slez. Muz. Opava (A). 2013; 62: 101-106Google Scholar]. The precautionary principle should be exercised regarding non-native species, unless there is solid scientific evidence to suggest otherwise, especially with climate change making the establishment and spread of many non-native species more likely [43Berggren Å. et al.The distribution and abundance of animal populations in a climate of uncertainty.Oikos. 2009; 118: 1121-1126Crossref Scopus (84) Google Scholar]. The industry is on the verge of shifting from low level collection and production to intensive rearing on a massive scale. Consequently, most aspects of mass insect rearing relating to sustainability criteria and environmental impacts are uncertain or unknown. While much of the environmental impact of industry often highlights the role of housing, processing, and transport on resource use, in animal production systems ecologists play a vital role for understanding how the ecology of organisms interacts with these key elements of the system, and thus influence productivity (Figure 1). Ecologists and animal scientists need to begin playing an active role in evaluating and informing this industry to ensure critical questions related to environmental sustainability are not overlooked; we outline some areas where this research will make a significant impact. Currently, the industry focuses on a narrow range of potential edible species. This choice is at least partly determined by availability and familiarity; thus, there is potential for huge gains in investigating other species whose life histories lend themselves to mass rearing, and from there testing their nutritional and growth profiles. Even within the select group of insects currently being produced (e.g., crickets, meal worms, and black soldier flies), there is little research into how deliberate or unconscious selection for specific domestication traits [44Zeder M.A. The domestication of animals.J. Anthropol. Res. 2012; 68: 161-190Crossref Scopus (217) Google Scholar] will manifest in species with distinct morphological life stages (larvae – instars – adults). The concept of life-history trade-offs [45Stearns S.C. The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press, 1992Google Scholar] will be important when selecting on different traits (physiological, morphological, and behavioural) at different life stages. Whether selection at one life stage negatively impacts on other life stages, reducing overall survival, reproductive capacity, nutritional quality, or FCRs in mass-reared insects is currently an open question. As in traditional breeding programmes, selection conflicts need to be identified, as well as reliable phenotypic predictors of future production outputs. The type of feed used in livestock production has large impacts on LCA sustainability assessments [37Smetana S. et al.Sustainability of insect use for feed and food: life cycle assessment.J. Clean. Prod. 2016; 137: 741-751Crossref Scopus (198) Google Scholar]; thus, it is here that many gains can be expected in insect rearing systems [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 29Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of cricket farming in north-eastern Thailand.J. Clean. Prod. 2017; 156: 83-94Crossref Scopus (94) Google Scholar]. It is important that research not only focuses on the types of feed that maximise feed conversion and insect growth rate, but also considers broader ecological perspectives of sustainability. Two areas with huge potential are (i) using insects as 'converters' of non-nutritive or unsafe foods; and (ii) using feed crops to enhance local biodiversity. The first uses insects to convert agricultural or industry by-products into human or livestock food. Insects have the potential to metabolise unwanted compounds (e.g., toxins) or utilise materials such as manure and lignin that are metabolically unavailable to most vertebrates [32Lalander C.H. et al.High waste-to-biomass conversion and efficient Salmonella spp. reduction using black soldier fly for waste recycling.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2015; 35: 261-271Crossref Scopus (178) Google Scholar, 33van der Fels-Klerx H.J. et al.Food safety issues related to uses of insects for feeds and foods.Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf. 2018; 17: 1172-1183Crossref Scopus (93) Google Scholar, 46Vassileios V. Langton M. Forest biomass waste as a potential innovative source for rearing edible insects for food and feed – a review.Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. 2017; 41: 193-205Crossref Scopus (32) Google Scholar]. Here, the efficiency focus is not simply feed conversion and growth, but also the sustainability gains made by utilising materials that would otherwise be wasted or require processing. The second approach examines how specific feed crops for insects can be grown while simultaneously considering their effect on native biota. Flowering feed crops can be used to promote local pollinator diversity, with research focussing not only on the types of crops that would be beneficial, but also how different crop harvest times interact with feed quality and ecosystem services. Risk evaluation systems have been developed within invasive species ecology and management, as well as how to contain, manage, and remove unwanted pests [47Robinson A.P. et al.Invasive Species: Risk Assessment and Management. Cambridge University Press, 2017Crossref Scopus (12) Google Scholar]. It is likely that much of this work and knowledge can be adapted to mass-rearing systems, but this requires careful examination for each species and has yet to be done. Diseases are common in insects and can have major effects on their reproduction, growth, and survival [48Weissman D.B. et al.Billions and billions sold: pet-feeder crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), commercial crickets farms, an epizootic densovirus, and government regulations make for a potential disaster.Zootaxa. 2012; 3504: 67-88Google Scholar]. However, compared to other domestic livestock there is little known on their prevalence, ecology, and impacts in intensively reared populations, or the potential for vaccination, antibiotic use (and abuse), or disease management [49van Huis A. Edible insects and research needs.J. Insect Food Feed. 2017; 3: 3-5Crossref Scopus (23) Google Scholar]. There is limited information on the application of insect frass as a fertiliser, with studies reporting both positive [50Kagata S. Ohgushi T. Positive and negative impacts of insect frass quality on soil nitrogen availability and plant growth.Popul. Ecol. 2012; 54: 75-82Crossref Scopus (56) Google Scholar] and negative effects on plant growth [50Kagata S. Ohgushi T. Positive and negative impacts of insect frass quality on soil nitrogen availability and plant growth.Popul. Ecol. 2012; 54: 75-82Crossref Scopus (56) Google Scholar, 51Alattar M.A. et al.Effects of microaerobic fermentation and black soldier fly larvae food scrap processing residues on the growth of corn plants (Zea mays).Plant Sci. Today. 2016; 3: 57-62Crossref Google Scholar]. It is likely that local effects of frass fertiliser are largely dependent on the insect species and their feed [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 50Kagata S. Ohgushi T. Positive and negative impacts of insect frass quality on soil nitrogen availability and plant growth.Popul. Ecol. 2012; 54: 75-82Crossref Scopus (56) Google Scholar], with these effect interactions needing urgent research before a major upscaling of the industry takes place. In addition, the nutrient composition of frass, and how its leakage into adjacent natural systems can affect their ecologies will be an important research area. Greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane, from insects in production systems are often highlighted as being low [24Oonincx D.G.A.B. et al.An exploration on greenhouse gas and ammonia production by insect species suitable for animal human consumption.PLoS One. 2010; 5e14445Crossref PubMed Scopus (434) Google Scholar], but can for some species be significant [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 29Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of cricket farming in north-eastern Thailand.J. Clean. Prod. 2017; 156: 83-94Crossref Scopus (94) Google Scholar], with environmental conditions playing a large role in determining their output [52Velu G. et al.Green house gas emissions from termite ecosystem.J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 5: 56-64Google Scholar]. Clearly, husbandry, housing, and feeding need to be optimised to ensure sustainability is balanced between production and emissions [28Halloran A. et al.Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review.Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2016; 36: 83-94Crossref Scopus (123) Google Scholar]. Nutritional quality is not only important for marketing the value of insect protein, but also for industry sustainability (i.e., higher quality outputs per input require less resources per gram of nutrient produced). Some insects contain substances harmful to humans that reduce their nutritional quality, such as cyanide or thiaminases [53Nahrstedt A. Davies R.H. The occurrence of the cyanoglucosides, linamarin and lotaustralin, in Acrea and Heliconius butterflies.Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 1981; 68B: 575-577Google Scholar, 54Nishimune T. Thiamin is decomposed due to Anaphe spp. entomophagy in seasonal ataxia patients in Nigeria.J. Nutr. 2000; 130: 1625-1628Crossref PubMed Scopus (91) Google Scholar]; however, these are modified by diet and should be open to selection [23Collavo A. et al.House cricket small-scale farming.in: Paoletti M.G. Ecological Implications of Minilivestock: Potential of Insects, Rodents, Frogs and Snails. Science Publishers, 2005Google Scholar]. Thus, research on insect nutritional quality and food safety needs to occur hand in hand with ecological research into suitable species and domestication selection. Another issue is related to recommendations on how insects should be eaten; the European Food Safety Authority recommends that wings and legs of crickets be removed before consumption [55European Food Safety Authority Risk profile related to production and consumption of insects as food and feed.EFSA J. 2015; 13: 4257-4317Crossref Scopus (391) Google Scholar], but this causes loss of nutrients [16Miech P. et al.Apparent faecal digestibility and nitrogen retention in piglets fed whole and peeled Cambodian field cricket meal.J. Insect Food Feed. 2017; 3: 279-288Crossref Scopus (17) Google Scholar]. All such recommendations need scientific verification so we do not reduce FCRs through unnecessary wastage. Intensive rearing systems will also likely affect the microbial environment in and on the animals, influencing food metabolism by the insects and the possibility of product spoilage. It is likely that these microbes are species specific and diverse [56Stoops J. Microbial community assessment of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) and grasshoppers (Locusta migratoria migratorioides) sold for human consumption.Food Microbiol. 2016; 53: 122-127Crossref PubMed Scopus (112) Google Scholar], but little is known about what risks insect food systems pose in terms of pathogens, food spoilage, or allergenic compounds. The study of mass insect rearing and how this affects their health, behaviour, and welfare is virtually nonexistent [49van Huis A. Edible insects and research needs.J. Insect Food Feed. 2017; 3: 3-5Crossref Scopus (23) Google Scholar, 57Gjerris M. et al.Ethical aspects of insect production for food and feed.J. Insect Food Feed. 2016; 2: 101-110Crossref Scopus (37) Google Scholar]. Questions surrounding the needs of individuals to healthily develop with a minimum of stress, pain, and mortality is an important research avenue. In addition, insects are economically important for subsistence farmers in many developing nations, and the growth of the insect-as-food industry should complement rather than replace these traditional family businesses. With the insect-as-food industry in its infancy, there is an opportunity to influence how this industry develops with regard to key sustainability criteria. We cannot expect that large-scale insect rearing will be environmentally sustainable without it being guided by strong research and its implementation into policy and industry goals. Here ecologists and animal scientists are uniquely qualified to provide an evidence-based foundation to assist in developing a sustainable industry and to provide information needed to properly undertake LCAs for sustainability. With authorities and the public interested in the possibilities that this new food system can provide, scientists have an opportunity to aid in the creation of a way to feed the future human population without further deteriorating the environment we rely on (see Outstanding Questions).Outstanding QuestionsAre we currently growing the right insect species? Are there other species with better nutritional profiles, FCRs, ability to utilise non-nutritive feedstuffs, or better adapted (or adaptable) to mass-rearing systems? At what life stage should insects be harvested, and how does life stage at harvest influence nutrient profiles, FCRs, and other measures of sustainability?What feed should be given to insects and how does feed type influence the key measures of production and ecological sustainability? How can insects be integrated into current agricultural systems to take advantage of byproducts and convert these into food or feed? What types of crops are best suited to feeding insects, and can these be produced in a way to promote local insect (particularly pollinator) diversity?Do reared insects carry diseases important for human or livestock health? How does husbandry, feeding, and processing influence the risk of transmission to consumers? Can specific-pathogen-free populations be isolated, for what diseases, and what impact does this have on productivity, insect health, and consumer well-being?How should waste from intensive rearing facilities be disposed of? In what circumstances can it be used for soil enrichment, and what are the nutrient leakage issues? What diseases are present in insect faecal and carcass waste, and does this pose risks for disease transmission to local (natural) insect populations?What is the risk of escape and establishment posed by insects currently used for mass rearing (e.g., black soldier flies or crickets) in areas where they are non-native? Could these species be invasive, and under what circumstances? What risks do they pose for local ecosystems and other production systems?How should animal welfare be measured in insects? Are mass rearing systems sympathetic to individual welfare, and to what extent do welfare concerns affect potential consumers?