Overview
This structured narrative review covers heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, persistent contaminants and processing contaminants in edible insects, and how the EU novel food framework handles them. It finds that rearing substrates drive contamination and that the EU has no generally applicable insect-specific maximum levels for contaminants.
Key numbers
- Table 1 compiles study-level cadmium and lead concentrations from other papers (Section 3.1); no new data.
Methods (brief)
Structured narrative literature review.
Evidence Fitness
Context only (tier C). Use the cited primary studies for numbers.