Background: The need for an opinion.
The increased attention to the use of farmed insects as a novel protein source has raised the question of the safety of insects as human food and as animal feed. This was the background for the European Union (EU) Commission to
mandate the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to conduct a review of the current knowledge about biological, chemical and environmental risks associated with production and consumption of insects. National authorities in
some EU member states (Belgium, the Netherlands and France) have conducted national assessments (ANSES, 2015; FASFC, 2014; NVWA, 2014). However, in the EU, existing regulations constitute legal barriers for marketing insects for human consumption and as protein in animal feed for food producing animals.