What's that in my burger patty?
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Why fly larvae could be the future of sustainable meat
By Naomi Ross
Would you eat a burger patty made of fly larvae? Professor Louw Hoffman from The University of Queensland has – and he thinks it could help future-proof our food supply.
Professor Hoffman, a meat scientist working with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) based at the University, has discovered that black soldier fly larvae are a nutrient-rich, sustainable and easy-to-farm protein that could help the meat industry adapt to our changing climate.
Black soldier fly larvae can be fed with food products no longer fit for human consumption, including compost and waste from abattoirs.
Black soldier fly larvae feasting on food waste.
Black soldier fly larvae feasting on food waste.
This means that waste from our food chain that was destined for landfill can now be reused to create a new safe and nutritious protein source.
Black soldier fly larvae are not just sustainable to feed – they also require significantly less land to produce than traditional meat.
Professor Hoffman has previously investigated the health and environmental benefits of feeding black soldier fly larvae to animals, including to quails. He found that it was not only a viable food source, but that it outperformed other more traditional feed.
“The quails fed a diet of 40% black soldier fly larvae were healthier and more protected against diseases like salmonella than those fed a typical commercial diet or a commercial diet with antibiotics,” Professor Hoffman said.
In 2020, Professor Hoffman (pictured) and his research team completed the world’s first study testing the viability of black soldier fly larvae as a protein for humans.
The team made a Vienna-style sausage out of black soldier fly larvae, comparing it to a commercial Vienna sausage made of pork.
The study found that, though the soldier fly larvae sausage did not maintain its shape, its nutritional value was comparable to that of the pork sausage.
“What the black soldier fly brings is, among other things, more fibre from the chitin, which is typically limited in meat and which plays an important role in gut health,” Professor Hoffman said.
“It also has a healthier level of fat than red meat. Your red meat tends to be more saturated, particularly when you start getting to fattier meat – the body stores saturated fat because it's more stable.
“A thin slice of meat containing black soldier fly larvae, with very little fat and a higher ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids from the membranes, is healthier.”
The nutritional value of black soldier fly larvae can also be influenced by its diet and age.
“The nutritional value of black soldier fly larvae is similar to traditional meat, although the fat levels will vary depending on the larval stage at which the larvae are harvested,” he said.
“The fatty acid profile of the larvae is influenced by the diet fed to the larvae – so feeding them fish waste will result in healthy polyunsaturated fat in the larvae.”
In 2020, Professor Hoffman (pictured) and his research team completed the world’s first study testing the viability of black soldier fly larvae as a protein for humans.
The team made a Vienna-style sausage out of black soldier fly larvae, comparing it to a commercial Vienna sausage made of pork.
The study found that, though the soldier fly larvae sausage did not maintain its shape, its nutritional value was comparable to that of the pork sausage.
“What the black soldier fly brings is, among other things, more fibre from the chitin, which is typically limited in meat and which plays an important role in gut health,” Professor Hoffman said.
“It also has a healthier level of fat than red meat. Your red meat tends to be more saturated, particularly when you start getting to fattier meat – the body stores saturated fat because it's more stable.
“A thin slice of meat containing black soldier fly larvae, with very little fat and a higher ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids from the membranes, is healthier.”
The nutritional value of black soldier fly larvae can also be influenced by its diet and age.
“The nutritional value of black soldier fly larvae is similar to traditional meat, although the fat levels will vary depending on the larval stage at which the larvae are harvested,” he said.
“The fatty acid profile of the larvae is influenced by the diet fed to the larvae – so feeding them fish waste will result in healthy polyunsaturated fat in the larvae.”
In 2022, Professor Hoffman’s team completed a similar study, comparing a traditional burger patty to one made of black soldier fly larvae.
This time, the burgers held their consistency – and, remarkably, taste-testing volunteers could not tell the difference.
“The consumers couldn't tell the difference between a traditional burger patty and one containing 30% black soldier fly larvae,” he said.
“They didn’t know which burger patty was which. The barriers to eating it are all psychological. That’s our problem.”
Three burger patties containing, from left to right, 25% black soldier fly larvae and 75% beef, 50% black soldier fly larvae and 50% beef, and 100% beef
Three burger patties containing, from left to right, 25% black soldier fly larvae and 75% beef, 50% black soldier fly larvae and 50% beef, and 100% beef
Producing black soldier fly larvae on a mass scale is still a while away, but in the shorter term, Professor Hoffman sees it having a future as a sustainable supplement to traditional protein sources for both people and animals.
“The answer is going to be in upcycling food waste back into this form of protein. But to do that, we have to produce it cheaply enough. And that is the challenge at the moment – reaching a scale where it’s going to be cheap enough,” Professor Hoffman said.
“We now know how to produce them in different scenarios and in automated systems. Our challenge now is to go from kilograms or a few tonnes per day to hundreds of tonnes per day. Because the industry needs it.”
In addition to his work with soldier fly larvae, Professor Hoffman is collaborating with alternative vegan meat companies in the United States, helping them to create nutritious meat alternatives.
As the climate changes and mass-scale meat production becomes less common, Professor Hoffman believes alternative protein sources will be essential to supplement supply demands.
By reducing the burden on suppliers to produce large quantities of traditional meat, black soldier fly larvae could bring us a step closer to sustainable meat consumption.
Professor Hoffman’s new study testing burger patties will be published in the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed.
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Professor Louw Hoffman
louwrens.hoffman@uq.edu.au
+61 417 984 547
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