Canada Approves Farmed Maggot for Chicken Feed
The first North American regulatory agency has approved an insect ingredient for use as an animal feed.
After a year-long push by Enterra Feed Corp. to breed and sell fly larvae, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has approved farmed maggots for use in chicken feed.
With global population trends indicating that the world will be home to nearly a billion people by 2050, scientists have been promoting insects and insect-based proteins as a means to achieve better food security.
Eighty percent of the world’s soybeans are allocated to animal feed, while farmed fish are fed wild-caught sardines and mackerel in traditional fish feed as a source of protein. Enterra sees the potential for insects to act as a replacer for these resource intensive rations.
So far, the CFIA’s approval, which seems to be a welcome but surprising development to the poultry industry, only applies to whole dried larvae. Approval for powdered insect meal, which is geared more toward use by large-scale commercial operations is still pending. Enterra has also applied to the CFIA for approval to sell its larvae to fish farms, and expects a decision by next year.
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