Overview
This systematic review gathers feeding and contamination studies on mycotoxins and heavy metals in insects raised for food and feed. It finds no clear evidence that mycotoxins accumulate, while metals accumulate to differing degrees by metal, species and life stage, for example cadmium in black soldier fly larvae and arsenic in yellow mealworm.
Key numbers
- EU feed limits summarized in Table 3: cadmium 2 mg/kg (feed materials) and 0.5 mg/kg (complete feed); lead 10 and 5 mg/kg; arsenic 2 mg/kg; mercury 0.1 mg/kg, at 12% moisture.
- The authors recommend a starvation period before harvest because gut contents add measurably to the contaminant body burden (Abstract).
Methods (brief)
Literature search of SciFinder and PubMed up to 26 June 2019, with study results tabulated by contaminant, insect species and feeding conditions.
Evidence Fitness
Context only: every concentration is quoted from other studies. Useful background on species-specific accumulation and on the EU feed and food rules that apply to farmed insects.
Related evidence
- Chemical food safety hazards of insects reared for food and feed
- Uptake of Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic by Tenebrio molitor and Hermetia illucens from Contaminated Substrates
- Cadmium
- Arsenic
Update history
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