Chicken fed with insect oil go on sale in French supermarkets

by Gregoire Belegaud, InnovaFeed, France

Insect farming has recently gained significant attention, as insects continue to broaden our understanding of natural and sustainable animal feed.

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of an entire value chain, a new landmark has been achieved: for the first time, consumers can eat chicken whose diets were enriched with insect oil. This is an exciting breakthrough as insect oil products reduce the environmental impacts of animal husbandry. InnovaFeed’s insect oil, SaniNovaTM, has indeed achieved an 80 percent lower carbon footprint than imported soybean oil. The launch of this new insect-fed value chain demonstrates, once again, the full potential of the insect sector.
 

Demonstrated zootechnical performance and improved animal welfare
Between March and June, a batch of chickens raised in France received a feed enriched with InnovaFeed’s insect oil, SaniNovaTM. This world premiere confirmed the results of previous trials done by InnovaFeed at a smaller scale. Chickens were raised in Label Rouge conditions (free range for 85 days) with the exception of insect oil replacing 100 percent of soya-based oil in the diet. Zootechnical performance was closely monitored during the entire rearing period.

Insects are a natural part of poultry diets, and this is reflected in the performance of the animals fed enriched diets. Regarding animal husbandry, insect oil had a positive impact on animal welfare: lower levels of stress response were measured. Chickens were calmer, less afraid of human contact and pecking between individuals was reduced. All of this combined meant their plumage was considered by farmers to be more beautiful, softer and fuller.

More generally, poultry demonstrated a strong appetence to the product and positive trends in regard to feed conversion ratio (FCR). This allows for a steady weight growth to meet the farmers’ high standards. Chicken fed with insect-enriched feed also happen to have higher litter quality, making it both drier and easier to crumble. 

Based on these results, a request has been made to include insect oil from black soldier fly larvae in Label Rouge specifications.

Read more HERE.

 

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