Entomophagy, the consumption of insects and their use in food has largely been absent from western civilization for cultural reasons. However in recent years economic and environmental reasons have driven a more general acceptance of insects' consumption. In fact, this practice has been recommended by the United Nations as a way to circumvent the food shortage problem created by an ever-growing global population. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is publishing strict legislation on a case-by-case basis covering 7 approved insect species for feed and one for food thus far.
Therefore, the application of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) with metabarcoding for the correct identification of these and other non-approved insect species in food matrices, is relevant to guarantee compliance with current legislation.
Agenda:
- Introduction: Insects in food and feed
- EFSA authorization of novel foods
- Advantages and disadvantages of insect consumption
- What is NGS?
- NGS application to insect species identification
- Q&A
