Safety of wild harvested and reared edible insects: A review

The nutritional benefits associated with edible insects have led to the recognition of the important role that edible insects can play in improving global food and nutrition security. The acceptance of edible insects by consumers and the contribution of edible insects to food security are well studied. However, there is still a knowledge gap in terms of food safety hazards and anti-nutritional factors associated with edible insects. This review evaluated the available literature on safety of edible insects. Besides identifying food safety hazards, effect of the production systems (i.e. controlled rearing versus wild harvested) and processing methods on the safety of the edible insects were also reviewed. The results showed that Europe had the highest number of publications, 50.0% (47/94), on safety of edible insects, followed by Africa with 28.7% (27/94). Publications from the African continent are mainly on safety of wild harvested edible insects, while those published in Europe are on safety of reared edible insects. The results also revealed that processing methods that include boiling, frying and roasting greatly increase the safety of the edible insects.