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September 24, 2019 03:30 am

Startups Are Using Insect Larvae To Produce Protein-Rich Ingredients For Animals

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: AgriProtein is among a small number of start-ups that are using insect larvae to produce protein-rich ingredients for animal feed. This nascent industry could help feed a growing human population in a way that's less damaging to the environment. Protix opened one of the world's largest insect farms in June in the Netherlands, while other producers, including Enviroflight, Ynsect and AgriProtein, are building large facilities to turn billions of insects into animal protein every month. Large farming companies like Cargill and Wilbur-Ellis are also investing in this sector. By breeding insects in vertical farms, these companies can produce large amounts of feed in less space than traditional farms, their proponents say. Proponents say this industry makes sense from a biological standpoint because insects are part of the natural diet of many animals, especially chicken and fish. Despite the possibilities, the insect protein industry faces many challenges. Regulatory hurdles have hampered its growth in Europe and the United States, where black soldier fly products can be used to feed poultry and some fish species but not other animals, and there is no regulatory approval for the use of other insect species for this purpose. But companies are confident that regulators in the United States will lift those restrictions soon. The report notes that black soldier fly larvae is favored by the "insect protein" industry because it "can become 200 times bigger after eating organic waste for 10 days."

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