Mass-based and nutritional life cycle assessment (nLCA) of crickets as human food

Abstract Crickets are a promising sustainable protein source for human consumption and animal feed. Following EFSA approval of house cricket ( Acheta domesticus ) for human consumption, its sustainability niche in the food system needs definition. This study applies Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to analyze large-scale cricket flour production in Vietnam and small-scale cricket paste production in Denmark using refurbished reefer containers. Three functional units, 1 kg of cricket flour, protein and digestible protein (DIAAR-based), enable comprehensive impact comparisons. LCA modelling in SimaPro V9.6.0.1 used the Environmental Footprint 3.1 methodology, with ILCD 2011 Midpoint and Midpoint+ for sensitivity analysis. The baseline climate change impact for 1 kg of insect flour (considering frass as waste) is 12.4 kg CO 2 eq. Using sustainable feeds (cassava leaf) and frass reuse lowers this to 8.99 kg CO 2 eq. Flour’s high protein quality and digestibility result in 12.14 and 13.20 kg CO 2 eq per kg of total and digestible protein, respectively. Environmental impact analysis by amino-acid profile highlights deficiencies in limiting amino acids, increasing adjusted impacts. Single-score (mPt) comparisons show cricket paste has 41.92% lower climate change impacts than flour, but flour has 72.07% lower impacts per protein amount due to higher protein content. Findings support scaling up cricket production without additional environmental burden.