Edible insects - defining knowledge gaps in biological and ethical considerations of entomophagy.

While seeking novel food sources to feed the increasing population of the globe, several alternatives have been discussed, including algae, fungi or meat. The increasingly propagated usage of farmed insects for human nutrition raises issues regarding food safety, consumer information and animal protection. In line with law, insects like any other animals must not be reared or manipulated in a way that inflicts unnecessary pain, distress or harm on them.

[The current revision of Directive 86/609/EWG from the perspective of animal welfare legislation].

The necessity to revise Directive 86/609/EWG has been discussed since 1993, growing more urgent since the Protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union (2004), both of which recognise the welfare of animals as sentient beings; a revision also proves necessary because of various changes within the framework of animal experimentation. Within an expert questionnaire launched in the summer of 2006 several shortcomings of Directive 86/609/EWG are pointed out; proposals for revision mainly concern the scope of the directive, authorisation of animal experiments by national bodies, controls on institutional level, minimal requirements for housing and care of laboratory animals as well as for qualification of staff, and instruments for reducing duplication of animal experiments. The introduction of an obligatory ethical review as part of a standardised and project-related authorisation procedure, the up-grading of housing and care standards and the implementation of mechanisms for reducing duplication of animal experiments may enhance full exploitation of the 3R and are therefore crucially important for a directive complying with the requirements of the Treaty of Amsterdam.