Watch the Replay: https://info.safetychain.com/fsma/opportunities-risk-alternative-food As consumer preferences for environmentally friendly options increase, shifting towards alternative foods - such as insect-based ingredients - means both opportunities and challenges for food manufacturers. In this webinar, we’ll discuss the emerging trend toward adopting alternative food and ingredients in North American manufacturing, what food safety regulators and certification programs might be impacted, and how you can prepare. • Benefits for alternative food products, from consumer demand, to sustainability • Managing the risks, from testing to labeling • Food safety guidance and future requirements Presented by Kate McInnes, Sr. Manager of of Food Safety at The Acheson Group.

1. FSMA Fridays Webinar Series
Monthly Industry News, Updates & Trends for Food, Beverage, & CPG Manufacturers
Kate McInnes
Sr. Manager, Food Safety
Exploring the Buzz:
Opportunities & Challenges in the Rise of Alternative Foods

2. ✔Monthly FSMA Related News
✔Regulation Changes & Updates
✔Industry Trends
✔Q&A with TAG
What is FSMA Fridays?
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of seasoned industry experts
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3. Meet Your FSMA Friday Speaker
FSMA FRIDAYS
Kate McInnes
Sr. Manager, Food Safety
Kate McInnes has ten years of experience in quality assurance, working
in analytical labs, mining, and food safety. She has had experience
working in dairy, poultry, agriculture, and, most recently, entomophagy
(insect consumption for humans) as a food safety quality assurance
manager. Within this emerging industry with minimal regulation, she
attained BRCGS food safety certification.

4. FSMA FRIDAYS
FSMA FRIDAYS
FSMA: Regulatory Updates
● FSMA Update #1
○ FDA released Priority Guidance Topics for Food in 2024
○ https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-lists-regulations-under-development-and-updates-priority-
guidance-topics-foods-program?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
● FSMA Update #2
○ Launch of Tech-Enabled Traceability Video Series
○ https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-launches-tech-enabled-traceability-video-
series?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
● FSMA Update #3
○ VQIP Application Portal is Open for FY2025 (closes on May 31st)
○ https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/vqip-application-portal-opens-
fy2025?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
● FSMA Update #4
○ New guidance on menu labeling was published in December
○ https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-announces-availability-draft-supplemental-guidance-menu-
labeling?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

5. FSMA FRIDAYS
FSMA FRIDAYS
FSMA: Regulatory Updates
● FSMA Update #5
○ AAFCO approved the use of mealworm and cricket (Acheta) for use in pet food
○ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ynsect-granted-first-approval-of-its-kind-to-commercialise-mealworm-
proteins-for-dog-food-in-the-usa-302043418.html
● FSMA Update #6
○ UDSA’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule is coming into effect on March 19, 2024.
https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/strengthening-organic-enforcement
● FSMA Update #7
○ Food Traceability – Public and Private Partnerships: Webinar hosted by Ben Miller and Eric Edmunds
○ Registration Link is: rb.gy/xcwrbg

6. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food
In a near future there is a need to guarantee food
security for upwards of 10 billion people worldwide
Factors contributing to food and feed insecurity:
Climate changes Rising
costs of animal protein
Consumer demands for protein Population increase

7. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Sustainable Protein

8. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food

9. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Eating Insects
Edible insects have always been a part of human diets
According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization),
nearly 2.5 billion humans regularly eat insects in the world
• 92 % of edible insects are wild harvest
• 6 % percent semi domesticated
• 2 % farmed
Crickets farmed intensively in North America for pet food and bait:
• Rising interest in edible insects in North America

10. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Global Consumption
Cultures all over the world eat insects…
1,900 + species currently are consumed
globally across 140 countries

11. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Insect Popularity

12. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food

13. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Cricket vs Beef

14. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Edible Insect Use
Whole dehydrated insects:
• Snacks
• Ingredients for culinary preparations
Ground as paste or flour:
• Baked Goods (Cookies, Muffins, Bread, Loafs, etc)
• Snacks (Crackers, puffs, chips, etc)
• Candy
• Protein bars
• Hamburgers
• Sausages

15. FSMA FRIDAYS
The Future of Food: Insect Food Safety
Concern to guarantee food security cannot be dissociated
from food safety and under the Codex Alimentarius
principles of food hygiene, insects would be comparable to
other types of foods of animal origin.

16. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Practices
Processing and storage of insects and their products
should follow the same health and sanitation regulations
as other food or feed in order to ensure their
microbiological and chemical safety.

17. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Manufacturers
The implementation of preventive
measures and controls should be
considered at:
• Primary Production / Rearing
• Processing

18. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Hazard Considerations
Rearing Location: Wild Caught vs. Semi-Domesticated vs. Farmed
Biological Hazards: Pathogens, Pest Control
Chemical Hazards: Metals, Toxins, Allergens, Environmental
Allergenicity: inherent vs acquired
Physical Hazards: What’s that crunch?

19. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Primary Rearing
Biggest Risk from Rearing Environment = Inputs for
Rearing
• Inputs for insects’ rearing are one of the most sensitive
prerequisites to attain high levels of food safety
• Water
• Food
• Substrate
• Housing
• Far easier to control in a farmed environment

20. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Primary Rearing
• Insects can satisfy their water need from feed / substrate
• Feed / Substrate may constitute a potential source of hazards:
• Biological: such as pathogens, molds, yeasts, fungi, parasites
• Chemical: mycotoxins, enterotoxins, heavy metals,
agricultural residues, drug residues, allergens

21. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Primary Rearing
Learning from Industry: Report of high levels of arsenic is product
RCA: Showed high levels of arsenic in crates used for rearing –
accumulating from rearing environment
The water, feed, and rearing environment must comply with the
safety criteria previewed for any food production animal

22. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Primary Rearing
• Avoid farm implementation in polluted areas that can be
responsible for biological or chemical contamination of
insects
• The premises should be hygienically designed
• Contamination is prevented
• Materials that allow an effective cleaning and disinfection
• Avoids pest infestation that might be vehicles of biological hazards
• Worker practices may also contribute to the microbiota of
edible insects (introduction through human vectors)

23. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Primary Rearing
• Good Hygiene Practices (GHP)
• Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
• Good Veterinary Practices (GVP)

24. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
It is not possible to remove the gut in almost all edible insects.
Insects get processed with their gut so it is important to have a
full understanding of biological risks inherent with microbiota.

25. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
INSECT SPECIFIC: Known that insects have their own microbiota
• May or may not contain native pathogens of concern
• Can serve as vectors for microorganisms pathogenic to humans

26. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
Intrinsic microbiota of insects can include:
Micrococcus
Lactobacillus
Acinetobacter
Campylobacter
Verotoxigenic Escherichia Coli
Salmonella
Enterobacteriaceae (Proteus, Escherichia)
Pseudomonas
Staphylococcus
Streptococcus
Bacillus
Listeria Monocytogenes

27. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
The prevalence of some of these pathogens is lower when
compared with other sources of animal protein
EXAMPLES
• Campylobacter does not replicate in the intestinal tract of the insects
• CRICKETS (G. sigillatus)
• Natural microbiota not host to pathogenic species of bacteria
• Contamination from rearing environment and feed

28. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
• Insects can harbor protozoa / parasites causing human illness
• Documented transmission cases of:
• Trypanosoma
• Leishmania
• The parasitic foodborne diseases related to edible insects are
not well documented
• Limited data on the occurrence of parasites in farmed insects

29. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
Yeast & Fungi
• Found in considerable amounts in fresh and processed
(i.e freeze‐dried) as well as in frozen insects
Source:
• Rearing Environment
• Feed

30. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Biological Hazards
• Many food sectors have already been subjected to extensive
research regarding microbial food safety and can fall back on a
clear legislative framework
• Insects can harbor a completely different microbial community
• The microbial qualities of different insect species and
production processes should be investigated separately

31. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Chemical Hazards
• Substances synthetized by the insect itself
• Substances accumulated by the insect from its
environment or feed
Chemical hazards may result from:

32. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Chemical Hazards
• Not all insect species are edible
• May depend on the stage of the life cycle
• There are two categories of toxic insects
• Cryptotoxics: contain toxic substances from either direct
synthesis or by accumulation from their diet
• Phanerotoxics: have specific organs that synthesise toxins
• Toxins and antinutritional factors should be assessed
for specific insects

33. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Chemical Hazards
Main chemical hazards related to edible insects:
• Heavy Metals
• Mycotoxins
• Agricultural Residues
• Dioxins
• Drug Residues
• Flame Retardants

34. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Chemical Hazards
• Toxic chemicals may accumulate in edible insects
from the substrate they feed on or by direct
contact with contaminants during rearing
• These chemicals can also form through processing
after harvesting

35. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Chemical Hazards
Transfer or bioaccumulation depend on:
• Nature of the chemical
• Source of contaminant
• The substrate
• Rearing conditions
• Insect species
• Life stage

36. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Allergenicity
• Many arthropods, are known to induce allergic
reactions in susceptible individuals
• May be caused by:
• presence of tropomyosin
• arginine kinase
• glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase
• haemocyanin
• Crustacean and shellfish allergic individuals are vulnerable to insects
• Insects and crustaceans belong to arthropod family

37. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Allergenicity
• Denovo allergens not fully understood yet from insects
• Chitin (exoskeleton component)
• Hexamerin1B: novel allergen was identified in the cricket
• Cross-reactive allergies have been identified in cockroaches
and dust mites
• Environmental allergens
CRICKETS: Dust mite sensitive individuals

38. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Allergenicity
Insect Diet:
• Trace amounts of major allergens can be found in processed insects
• The entire insect is processed, including stomach content
• Exterior contamination with feed residues
Product Labels:
• May contain statements can be required to
account for major allergen prevalence due
to feed inputs

39. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Physical Hazards
Not prone to be a vector of physical hazards
• Edible insects might have hard parts
• Elytra (modified, hardened forewing of beetles )
• Rostrums
• Wings
• Substrate and rearing environment
• Leaves
• Soil
• Peat moss
• Contamination by foreign bodies from the process (metal and plastic)

40. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Physical Hazards
EXAMPLE: Crickets
Legs & Ovipositor
• Cricket Splinters
• Provide for a less than enjoyable eating experience
Thorax
• Turns rock hard when cooked
• Creates a “stomach ball”
• Can be up up to a few 2-3 mm large

41. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Hazard Summary
• Meant to provide an overview of some of the risks and hazards
associated with manufacture of edible insects
• Not inclusive, still learning about the industry and complexities of this
emerging food group
• Not new hazards or risks to the food industry
• New matrix with different intricacies that are unique
• Controlled through well researched, developed and implemented
Food Safety Plan

42. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Industry Challenges
North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA):
The Insects for Food & Feed Industry Association in North America
• NACIA’s role is to educate and help build awareness and acceptance for
insects as a solution to up-cycle nutrients back up into the food chain
No specific regulations, standards, or guidelines yet regarding the sale and the production of
edible insects from farming to processing and storage
International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF)
EU non-profit organisation
• represents the interests of the insect production sector towards EU policy
makers, European stakeholders and citizens
• promotes use of insects for human consumption and insect-derived products

43. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Industry Challenges
• Still an emerging industry
• All hazards and risks are not fully understood
• Rearing optimization
• Processing optimization
• Considered a novel food in some parts of the world
• GFSI – Auditors with experience in the sector

44. FSMA FRIDAYS
Insect Food Safety: Industry Challenges
Overcoming negative associations for consumers
• The ICK Factor
• Normalizing consumption

45. FSMA FRIDAYS
EDIBLE INSECTS:
Are you BUZZING to try them??

46. FSMA FRIDAY
Questions?
Kate McInnes
Sr. Manager, Food Safety
Exploring the Buzz:
Opportunities & Challenges in the Rise of Alternative Foods

47. FSMA FRIDAYS
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