"Au menu le 10 mars au Palais fédéral? Des rissoles aux champignons et aux larves de zoophobas et de ténébrion grillées à l’ail, des mendiants au chocolat et aux fruits secs agrémentés de criquets pèlerins, des macarons garnis de grillons domestiques… «Avec tout ça, nous espérons bien nous faire connaître des parlementaires», se réjouitLouis Champod, 67 ans, vice- président de l’association Grimiam, qui a pour but de promouvoir l’entomophagie, soit la consommation d’insectes."

"Regarding the growing demand for fishmeal, soybean meal and other feed ingredients in livestock feeding and especially in aquaculture, alternative protein carriers are an increasing concern of the animal feed industry. Beside the possibility to use animal by-products of non-ruminant origin, such as blood- and meat-meals in aquafeeds – according to the EU-regulation (EC) 56/2013 – the use of insect-based feed ingredients is progressively discussed among fish-feed producers, scientists and policy makers.Thus the possibility of mass-rearing flies on organic substrates was rediscovered. The black soldier fly, BSF (Hermetia illucens) occurring in tropical and subtropical countries all over the world including the Mediterranean states and European countries north of the alps proved to be an ideal candidate (Bondary et al. 1981; St-Hilaire et al. 2007 ). This organism can be reared on a wide range of organic (waste)-material which is currently deposited or burned or used in biogas plants in the best case. The developing stages of the fly can use the potential of this waste-material and reduce the volume of those substrates by up to 50%, producing biomass with a protein content of about 42% and a fat content of up to 35 % (Sheppard et al., 1994, Stamer et al. 2007). The suitability of the Hermetia pre-pupae meal as a protein source in feedstuff had been proven in poultry and pigs and also in warm water fish species (i.e. channel catfish and tilapia) (Bondari, Sheppard, 1981; Hale, 1973; Newton et al., 1977). For carnivorous cold water fish species (e.g. Salmonidae, Scophthalmidae) only limited data is available regarding the use of insect meals instead of fish meal (Kroeckel et al. 2012; St-Hilaire et al. 2007). The present study shows results of a feeding-trial on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fed with two BSF-larvae meal containing diets."

"More than 80% of the protein sources required for livestock rearing in the EU, such as soya and fish meal, are imported from non-EU countries.  This is problematic, as it can lead to market fluctuations and price rises in the final products. The incorporation of insects in animal feed would reduce the dependency of the EU upon external protein sources to feed its livestock. However, this is not contemplated by EU law (with the exception of its usage for fish or shellfish feed).

The EU is exploring new possibilities, and has financed a research project that aims to facilitate the use of insects as an alternative source of protein for animal feed. The project is calledPROteINSECT and it will focus on producing two species of fly larvae for fish, chicken and pig feeding, alongside safety and quality checks.  Ironically, these animals would naturally consume flies and other insects, which are banned on European farms."