Novel Food Safety Evaluation: Potentially Toxic Elements in Acheta domesticus (House Cricket) Reared on Seaweed-Enriched Diets

In recent years, insects have emerged as a nutritious and eco-sustainable alternative food source, with the house cricket (<i>Acheta domesticus</i>, AD) recently authorized by the European Commission as a novel food. However, the presence of harmful substances in insects poses potential health risks. This study investigated the content of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), and aluminium (Al) in <i>Acheta domesticus</i> fed diets enriched with graded levels of the red seaweed <i>Palmaria palmata</i> or the brown seaweed <i>Ascophyllum nodosum</i> in two feeding trials. Chemical analyses were carried out by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry for all elements except Hg, which was analyzed by thermal decomposition amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry. The results showed that PTE content in the diets was below the legal limits for feed. The PTEs in AD ranged (mg kg^-1 dry matter) as follows: Cd (0.069 ± 0.005-0.127 ± 0.002), As (0.08 ± 0.01-0.36 ± 0.03), Pb (0.05 ± 0.01-0.12 ± 0.01), Hg (0.0065 ± 0.0002-0.0141 ± 0.0010), Ni (0.64 ± 0.06-1.20 ± 0.10), Cr (0.16 ± 0.02-0.58 ± 0.01), and Al (17 ± 2-61 ± 1). AD bioaccumulated As and Hg; however, the PTE levels remained below European Union food safety limits. The absence of non-carcinogenic risk for consumers suggests that AD fed seaweed-enriched diets are a safe, healthy, and low-chemical risk food for humans.