Insect food for humans and animals is currently being discussed as an alternative source of protein. Animal welfare aspects are taking a back seat - the German Animal Welfare Federation points this out and advises against the “entomophagous diet”.
“Even if human empathy towards insects may be less than with vertebrates: There is no reason to doubt insects' perception of pain. They must therefore be protected from arbitrariness and unnecessary, painful actions, especially in the human sphere of influence,” emphasizes Nina Brakebusch, specialist for interdisciplinary topics at the German Animal Welfare Federation.
According to the Animal Welfare Act, animals in human care must be fed and housed appropriately; pain, suffering and harm must be avoided. In modern industrial husbandry, however, injuries, bruises and amputations cannot be avoided when moving and sifting the sheer number of insects. Cannibalism is common. According to the Animal Welfare Association, it is therefore impossible to keep mealworms, crickets and the like as “farm animals” in a species-appropriate manner. To date, there have been no legal regulations on the keeping and killing of edible insects in accordance with animal welfare standards. In any case, too little is known about the species-specific needs and requirements of the individual species. Studies are almost exclusively concerned with determining the parameters under which the animals gain mass most quickly. “The animals are perceived as mere production units and not as sentient beings,” says Brakebusch. A lack of veterinary research also leads to animal suffering and health risks for humans and animals.
NEW APPROVAL ASSOCIATED WITH ANIMAL TESTING
Many people are unaware of the fact that the new approval of insect products for human consumption is linked to animal testing throughout the EU via the Novel Foods Regulation: rats or pigs are fed insects as a food mash for months. In the end, they are killed and their organs are examined, although feeding tests on animals cannot provide any reliable information on their tolerance in humans. According to the Animal Welfare Association, any further promotion of insect products in the EU should therefore be rejected - especially as there is no need for this in Europe.
GOOD ECOLOGICAL BALANCE IS QUESTIONABLE
Although insects require fewer resources, such as water or land, than other so-called farm animals, the remarkable eco-balance figures published often do not correspond to reality when all variables are taken into account. Rearing insects is energy-intensive: depending on the species and stage of development, they need to be heated or cooled, require a lot of light, high humidity and harmful gases need to be removed. Killing and processing by cold or heat and drying and grinding also cost energy. What's more, insects also need to be fed, often using grain that could also directly benefit human nutrition. A plant-based diet for humans and a simultaneous reduction in the number of animals in agriculture therefore remain the most climate-friendly approaches.
Read more about this topic in our position paper “Insects as a source of protein for human and animal nutrition”
