Project targets low energy insect production for feed
Food industry research organisation Campden BRI has begun working with experts from mealworm producer Entec Nutrition and Exeter University to develop low-energy production of insects for UK fish and poultry feed.
The research is funded by a £250,000 grant from the Transforming Food Production programme run by government funding agency Innovate UK, and aims to reduce the feed industry’s carbon footprint by investigating efficient insect production methodologies and the science behind insect nutrition in animal feed.
Tiia Morsky, ingredients research team leader at Campden BRI, said: “We will be developing the methodology to produce insect-derived protein and oil ingredients. This will include separation, drying, milling and analysis of each product’s characteristics including nutrition, shelf-life and functionality.”
Net zero carbon target
Fish and poultry consumption is expected to increase as the world’s population grows, generating a greater demand for animal feedstocks, and therefore animal-feed ingredients.
The project’s leaders say the global feed industry is energy-intensive, reliant on international imports, at risk of commodity price hikes, and associated with deforestation. The project aims to develop insect feed to lower the cost of production and environmental impact of the poultry and aquaculture industries and significantly support the UK’s goal to reach net zero carbon target by 2050.
Dr Olivia Champion, who co-founded Entec Nutrition with University of Exeter colleague Professor Richard Titball, said: “We are thrilled to have won this Innovate UK Transforming Food Productions grant with our research partners.
“It’s really exciting for Entec Nutrition to form part of the UK’s clean innovation solutions to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The funding will allow us to explore methods for low energy production of insects to lower the cost of production and the environmental impact of the feed industry.”
Oil-rich ingredients
Campden BRI and Entec Nutrition are also collaborating on a smaller EU-funded project with similar objectives.
Morsky said: “The second project will build on our findings by further developing methods that will produce nutritious oil-rich and protein-rich ingredients from insects.
“The nutritional content of these ingredients will then be assessed for poultry-feed producers and shelf-life, and we’ll also identify any biological or chemical contaminants.”
Campden BRI has premises in Gloucestershire and Sussex, along with a subsidiary in Budapest, Hungary and is expert in a wide range of food-related manufacturing technologies.
Entec Nutrition is based at Tremough Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, a campus shared by Falmouth and Exeter universities.
The UK lags behind mainland Europe when it comes to the mass production of insects for use in feed. Factories for the large-scale production of mealworm (Ynsect) and black soldier fly (Protix, InnovaFeed, AgriProtein) have either been built or are under construction in France and the Netherlands.
