This study (open access) tested 119 commercial products of insect flour, composite food and animal feed using two DNA-based methods, real-time PCR and metabarcoding, to check whether the insects claimed on the packaging were actually present.
The headline result is that 50% of the products contained insect species not listed on the label, or lacked the species that were declared. The detailed results are explained within the article and there are not always clear-cut interpretations (particularly for feed, where – for example - it is not illegal to fail to declare all protein species within a pet food recipe). However, some trends were clear.
- Many producers are unspecific about species identification, using general terms such as “cricket” which do not differentiate between legal and non-legal species
- Cross-contamination between different insect species is endemic
- Regulatory test methods (PCR) are not fit to tell whether the banned practice of rearing insects on substrate containing meat/bone has been used (because the method will also detect, for example, permitted animal-derived substrates such as egg shell)
The authors conclude that traceability and cross-contamination control needs to be improved in this nascent industry, before insects become mainstream, to avoid loss of public trust.
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