Farmed Insect Welfare and Stunning Research

Emerging research on insect welfare and humane killing methods for the growing insect farming industry.

Key Facts

The insect farming industry is growing rapidly, with projected production of millions of tonnes annually by 2030
Black soldier fly, mealworm, and cricket are the primary species farmed for food and animal feed
Insects are killed by various methods including heat, freezing, shredding, and CO2 exposure
Research on insect sentience is ongoing, with nociception and some pain behaviors documented in several species
The precautionary principle is increasingly applied to insect welfare given sentience uncertainty
Nitrogen gas stunning before killing has been proposed as a more humane insect slaughter method

Welfare Considerations

Insect welfare at scale is one of the most challenging emerging questions in animal ethics because it involves species whose sentience probability is uncertain, at numbers that make even small welfare improvements enormously consequential. If insects experience something like pain or distress — even at low probability — the scale of insect farming means the aggregate welfare impact of production methods is enormous. Applying the precautionary principle to insect slaughter methods, investigating more rapid and gentle killing technologies, and investing in insect sentience research are all welfare-justified responses to this uncertainty.

What You Can Do

Support Rethink Priorities and other organizations researching insect sentience and welfare implications
Advocate for regulatory engagement with insect welfare in food safety and animal welfare frameworks
Choose insect products from companies that have engaged with welfare considerations in their production methods
Engage with the philosophical and scientific literature on invertebrate welfare to inform your position