Farmed Insect Welfare Research: Current Evidence and Future Directions

As insect farming scales rapidly, welfare researchers are working to establish what is known and unknown about insect sentience and how to apply it.

Key Facts

The global insect farming industry is projected to grow from 400,000 to 4 million tonnes of production by 2030
Black soldier fly larvae are the dominant welfare research focus due to their scale and accessibility
Nociception has been demonstrated in many insect species including Drosophila, bees, and some beetles
Whether nociception constitutes pain experience in the morally relevant sense remains scientifically contested
Some researchers argue that insect brain complexity and behavior are insufficient for conscious pain experience
Others argue the precautionary principle requires welfare consideration given the enormous numbers involved
Stunning methods including CO2 and cold anesthesia are being evaluated for feasibility in commercial insect slaughter
Rethink Priorities has published the most comprehensive welfare research on farmed insect sentience to date

Welfare Considerations

Insect welfare research is a genuinely uncertain field working at the frontier of our understanding of sentience. The scientific community does not yet have consensus on whether insects experience pain in a morally relevant sense, and honest engagement with this uncertainty is essential for responsible policy. What is clear is that the scale of insect production — trillions of individuals — means that even a small probability of moral patienthood across this population represents a significant welfare stake. Responsible insect farming policy responds to this uncertainty by investing in research to reduce it, implementing low-cost welfare improvements where these are available, and creating regulatory frameworks that can be updated as evidence develops. Dismissing insect welfare entirely is as epistemically overconfident as insisting all insects are sentient.

What You Can Do

Follow Rethink Priorities for the most current evidence-based assessment of insect sentience and welfare
Support research programs investigating insect neuroscience, behavior, and potential sentience
Engage with insect farming certification bodies to ensure welfare consideration is included in standards
Apply proportionate precaution — support low-cost welfare improvements where evidence of benefit exists
Advocate for insect welfare to be included in the remit of national animal welfare research bodies
Choose insect products from producers who publish their welfare and slaughter practices transparently
Support regulatory frameworks for insect farming that include welfare criteria proportionate to current evidence