The farmed insect industry is growing rapidly as a source of protein for animal feed and potentially human consumption. The welfare of insects raised in industrial quantities is an increasingly important and scientifically uncertain question.
The moral status of insects is genuinely uncertain, but the uncertainty itself warrants consideration given the extraordinary scale of insect farming — billions of individuals are involved. A precautionary approach suggests that killing methods which minimize potential suffering (such as rapid chilling followed by freezing) are preferable to slower methods even if certainty about insect sentience is lacking. Rearing conditions that allow natural behaviors relevant to the species (burrowing, access to food and humidity) seem prudent even while the scientific debate continues. This is an area where welfare science and ethics are still developing.