As insect farming scales up to meet demand for sustainable protein, establishing welfare standards for the billions of insects farmed annually is an emerging priority.
The scale of insect farming means that even small individual welfare impacts multiplied across billions of individuals could represent enormous aggregate suffering. While the scientific evidence for insect pain is less certain than for vertebrates, the precautionary principle supports developing welfare standards. Key areas include thermal killing methods, stocking densities, substrate quality, and humidity management. Research is urgently needed to improve understanding.