Farmed Insect Welfare Standards | Animal Welfare Hub

Insect farming is growing rapidly as a sustainable protein source, raising novel welfare questions for billions of individual animals. Developing welfare standards for farmed insects is an emerging priority in animal ethics.

Key Facts

Global insect protein production is projected to grow from thousands to millions of tonnes by 2030
Black soldier fly larvae, mealworms, and crickets are the most commonly farmed insect species for animal feed and human food
The question of whether insects experience pain in a morally relevant sense is scientifically unresolved but increasingly taken seriously
The London School of Economics 2021 report concluded that some insects have a moderate probability of sentience
Farmed insects are often killed by methods including freezing, boiling, and grinding that may cause suffering if they are sentient
Insect farming at industrial scales occurs at extraordinarily high densities that prevent individual behavioral assessment
Some evidence suggests mealworms show reduced activity in response to injury, potentially indicating a nociceptive response
The European Food Safety Authority has published guidance on insect welfare noting scientific uncertainty and recommending precautionary approaches

Welfare Considerations

Insect farming welfare sits at the frontier of moral consideration for animal life. The scale of insect production — billions of individuals — means that even a small probability of meaningful suffering creates a potentially large aggregate welfare problem. The scientific evidence on insect sentience is genuinely uncertain: insects have nociceptors and show nociceptive responses, but lack the cortical structures associated with pain experience in vertebrates, and their behavioral responses to injury are debated as possible reflexive rather than experienced reactions. Precautionary approaches to this uncertainty recommend developing welfare standards that minimize potential suffering even where sentience is not confirmed, particularly given the scale of production. Practical welfare considerations for farmed insects include killing methods that minimize potential suffering duration, housing conditions that provide appropriate temperature, humidity, and food resources, and stocking densities that prevent the physiological stress documented in research on overcrowding effects in insects. Compared to vertebrate farming, the welfare improvements available in insect farming may be achievable at very low cost given the small physical and resource requirements of individual insects, making the precautionary case for developing and implementing minimum standards relatively strong.

What You Can Do

Support organizations developing welfare standards for insect farming based on the best available scientific evidence
Engage thoughtfully with the uncertain science of insect sentience rather than assuming insects cannot suffer
Advocate for precautionary welfare standards in insect farming regulations as the industry scales globally
Support research into insect nociception, stress responses, and the development of welfare assessment methods
Consider the welfare uncertainty around insects when making dietary choices about insect-based protein products