Grub’s up! Insect protein as pet food

Dog owners: how many times have you seen your pup chase a spider across the carpet and gobble it up? Dogs and cats are happy to eat insects in the wild; now they have the chance to eat them every day. Insect protein is on the rise as an alternative to animal protein in pet food. But is it nutritious enough for your furry friend?

Read on to find out more about the rise of insect protein in pet food, its benefits, and how Sciantec can help.

How insect protein in pet food is taking wing

In 2019, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) publicly endorsed the use of insect protein in pet foods. Some insects, such as crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts, provide more protein than even meat and chicken eggs. However, research on how nutritious insects are is limited, and there are plenty of barriers to overcome before insect protein in pet food is widely accepted.

The biggest barrier is legislation because processed animal protein in feed has been banned since the 90s. However, the EU is gradually starting to relax legislation. In May 2017, the EU partially lifted the feed ban rules regarding the use of insect processed animal proteins to be used in aquafeed. In September 2021, they could also be fed to poultry and pigs. At the end of last year, they also authorised insect waste (frass) for use in fertiliser to spread on our crops.

There is also an EU non-for-profit organisation called the IPIFF: the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed. This trade body represents 80+ members involved in insect feed and food, such as insect farms, on a legislative level.

With these hurdles starting to be cleared, experts suggest that the market is now set to increase exponentially in less than 10 years. Some even project production to soar from about 10,000 metric tonnes today to 500,000 by 2030.

The buzz around insect protein

Now that the safety of insect protein seems to be more secure than before, we must ask if it is nutritious enough for our pets.

Insects like crickets, mealworms, and black soldier flies offer stacks of rich, healthy proteins for your animal's diet. Farmed species can also contain high fat/oil content, mineral content, and vitamin levels, and have fantastic amino acid profiling. There is also some evidence that insects accumulate low quantities of heavy metals, mycotoxins, and pesticides.

So, we might find the idea of eating creepy crawlies unpleasant, but the potential nutritional value of insect protein for animal feed is clear. To be sure, producers must undertake analysis from a specialist animal feed laboratory.

How Sciantec can help

We service several customers who use insect protein in pet food products. Nutritional analysis can include amino acid and fatty acid profiling, species specific energy calculations, crude protein, total oil, moisture and dry matter, crude ash, and more, helping our customers to ensure the safety and quality of their products. We also test for undesirable substances and contaminants to help producers remain compliant and safeguard public and animal health.

With over 30 years' expertise in animal feed analysis and our extensive experience in the agriculture sector, we work closely with customers to undertake specialist research like determining the nutritional value of insect protein. We also deliver microbiology services to check feed and ingredients for Salmonella, E. coli, and other Enterobacteriaceae and help keep animals, livestock, and humans safe from disease.

If you want to undertake nutritional or undesirables analysis, or you have a specialist project that we can help you with, contact us to discuss your requirements.

Source: Cawood.