From mealworms to crickets to cockroaches and locusts and more, food pioneers are urging people to give up meats and turn to insects for protein in their meals.
The message is eating bugs is safer for the environment than eating real meat, and healthy for you. But is that true? A study published in 2019 indicates that insects can be carriers of parasitic infections to both humans and animals.
While researchers only recommended further studies focusing on the monitoring of insect farms for pathogens, they concluded that “Our research indicates the important role of these insects in the epidemiology of parasites pathogenic to vertebrates. Conducted parasitological examination suggests that edible insects may be the most important parasite vector for domestic insectivorous animals.”
SOURCE:
PLOS One July 8, 2019