Insect croquettes as an alternative to classic croquettes?
For a few years now, insect kibbles have appeared on the vast pet food market alongside "classic" kibbles formulated with animal by-products from slaughterhouses.
They are most often made from insects such as mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor), house fly larvae (Musca domestica Linnaeus) or even black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens ).
These insect croquettes claim to be hypoallergenic and claim to be more ecological and richer in quality proteins than "traditional" products.
But is that really the case? A study published in Journal of Insects as Food and Feed in November 2020 took stock of the current state of knowledge regarding the nutritional quality, he alth effects, palatability and environmental impact of insects as food. food for dogs and cats. And the reality is sometimes much more nuanced than the marketing arguments put forward by the manufacturers
Are insect kibbles good for dogs?
Do insect proteins meet the nutritional needs of dogs?
One of the main marketing arguments of insect kibble manufacturers is based on the superior quality of insect proteins as opposed to the poor quality proteins provided by animal by-products and vegetable proteins present in excess quantity in low-end kibbles.
Remember that the nutritional quality of a food protein is assessed by its ability to cover nitrogen and amino acid requirements to ensure tissue growth and maintenance for a given intake.This capacity depends on the essential amino acid composition of the protein and the digestibility of these amino acids.
What about the nutritional quality of insect proteins for dogs?
To assess it, the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed (1) study looked at the apparent digestibility of certain insect proteins as well as their DIAAS score (2), which takes into account digestibility each of the essential amino acids.
According to the observations of this study, the apparent digestibility of insect-based foods appears to be within the range of foods containing conventional protein sources and the first limiting amino acids(3) of insect proteins are methionine for black soldier flies and housefly larvae, threonine for black soldier flies and leucine for housefly larvae.
And, although the number of studies on the matter is also limited, it would seem that the introduction of insects into extruded pet foods would not disturb their intestinal functioning or the consistency of their stools .
Hypoallergenic croquettes?
" Insects are a new source of protein that our dogs probably haven&39;t yet developed an intolerance or allergy to, so insect-based dog foods are often marketed as hypoallergenic. "
On this specific point, the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed article states that no study has been published to assess the effectiveness of these hypoallergenic insect-based foods.
In general, he recommends that other long-term studies should be conducted to scientifically validate the possible other benefits attributable to insects in the diet of our pets.
Do dogs like insect kibble?
While many manufacturers have likely tested their foods internally on pets for palatability, little data has been made public.
According to the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, it would nevertheless appear that dogs have a preference for dry food containing black soldier fly larvae to those containing mealworms and that the proportion of insects introduced into the kibble would influence the acceptance of the product. Dogs seem to accept foods containing up to 10% black soldier fly meal as well as black soldier fly oil coated kibble up to 5%.
Croquettes better for the environment?
To the question "are insect croquettes really more ecological than other croquettes? », the answer is, against all expectations, « no ».
While it is true that insect protein has a lower environmental impact than meat protein from livestock, but that is irrelevant in the context of pet foods which are largely based on animal co-products with a low environmental impact.
" More clearly, the meat used in "classic" croquettes is the "waste" of the food industry and allows nothing to be wasted. For insect croquettes, we breed insects just for that so that the ecological argument of insect croquettes compared to chicken or beef croquettes no longer holds!"
(1) Effect of using insects as feed on animals: pet dogs and cats, G. Bosch, K.S. Swanson, Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 2020.
(2) DIAAS stands for Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score. This is the method recommended by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) to assess the protein quality of a food.
(3) A limiting amino acid is an essential amino acid whose rate in the food in question is the lowest compared to the so-called reference protein.