Headline: "Safety Assured: Insects as Food Source Leave Allergens Behind, Wageningen Research Finds"
Researchers at Wageningen Food Safety Research have investigating substrates that can be used to cultivate insects, with a key question being whether allergens present in waste streams used as substrates would also be found in the insects themselves. The findings suggest that the levels of allergens are so low that it’s unlikely anyone would experience an allergic reaction from consuming insect-derived food products.
The scientists analyzed five different waste streams for the presence of milk proteins (caseins) and gluten, then reared two insect species on these substrates. Black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens) were raised on a superstore mixture, chicken feed, catering waste, and French fries, while mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) were raised on a superstore mixture and wheat bran.
Gluten was detected in all waste streams except French fries, and caseins were found in the superstore mixture and catering waste. However, these allergens were barely detectable in the insects themselves, with concentrations so low that an allergic reaction from consuming insect-based products is highly unlikely.
This promising research indicates that insects can be safely mass-reared on various waste streams as an alternative protein source for animal feed and, ultimately, human consumption, without posing significant allergen risks. The full study is available in the journal PLoS ONE.
