Abstract
Simple SummaryFor prevalent livestock, animal welfare is important to consumers. With increasing interest in edible insects, one might wonder how this concern translates to consumers’ perceptions of the welfare of insects. Therefore, we focus on consumers’ acceptance of how edible insects are currently produced. We first define what animal welfare means for prevalent livestock and transfer relevant aspects to the welfare of insects. Then, we review relevant aspects that shape consumers’ understanding of animal welfare. We provide an overview of the few consumer studies on insect welfare. Last, we present the public discourse on insects and discuss how this might be relevant to consumers’ perceptions of insect welfare.A growing number of studies underline consumers’ concerns about the importance of animal welfare as a general concept for consumers’ purchase decisions. In particular, consumers perceive animal husbandry to be one of the most important aspects of animal welfare. Since intensive livestock production is criticized across society, the acceptance of current intensive production systems of edible insects is an issue of investigation. Criteria of insect welfare might differ from vertebrate welfare. One might argue that it is difficult to define standards for insect welfare due to their large diversity in living environments and feed requirements. In addition, it is debated whether insects are conscious and suffer from pain. It has been demanded to rear insects preferably under natural living conditions and some researchers proposed to consider them as sentient beings. Basic welfare and ethical aspects of insects as food and feed include species-specific mass rearing conditions and euthanasia, i.e., killing procedures. Consumers’ opinions and concerns regarding this issue have hardly been considered so far. In this paper, the animal welfare of prevalent livestock is defined and outlined, and relevant criteria are transferred to insect welfare. Different ways consumers might arrive at an animal welfare understanding are discussed, along with an overview of the few consumer studies on insect welfare. Furthermore, we consider how insects are presented in the public discourse and infer how this might be relevant to consumers’ perceptions of insect welfare.
Highlights
The consumption of insects as food, referred to as entomophagy, is traditionally practised in many cultures [1] with approximately several hundreds of million people worldwide regularly eating insects [2]
Paving the way for the edible insect sector to expand on the European market, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently assessed the dried yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor larvae) [7] and frozen and dried migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria) [8] as safe for human consumption (see : Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/882) [7]
With regard to Germany, the animal protection law (Tierschutzgesetz) holds for all animals, including invertebrates, but most specifications, such as the need for pain avoidance and/or anesthesia when it comes to slaughtering, only regard vertebrates [33]. Based on this lack of welfare regulations for insect farming, this paper aims to review existing literature on insect welfare and focuses on the acceptance of current production systems of edible insects
Summary
The consumption of insects as food, referred to as entomophagy, is traditionally practised in many cultures [1] with approximately several hundreds of million people worldwide regularly eating insects [2]. Paving the way for the edible insect sector to expand on the European market, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently assessed the dried yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor larvae) [7] and frozen and dried migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria) [8] as safe for human consumption (see : Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/882) [7] Underlining this trend, the insect-farming business is predicted to increase tenfold globally by 2025 [9]. With regard to Germany, the animal protection law (Tierschutzgesetz) holds for all animals, including invertebrates, but most specifications, such as the need for pain avoidance and/or anesthesia when it comes to slaughtering, only regard vertebrates [33] Based on this lack of welfare regulations for insect farming, this paper aims to review existing literature on insect welfare and focuses on the acceptance of current production systems of edible insects. It is discussed how insects are presented in the public discourse and inferred how this might be relevant to consumers’ perceptions of insect welfare
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