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Article

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

by
Behixhe Ajdini
1,
Irene Biancarosa
2,
Silvia Illuminati
1,
Anna Annibaldi
1,
Federico Girolametti
1,
Matteo Fanelli
3,
Lorenzo Massi
1,4 and
Cristina Truzzi
1,*
1
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
2
Department of Marine Biotechnology, Stazione Zoologica “Anton Dohrn”, Fano Marine Center, Viale Adriatico 1-N, 61032 Fano, Italy
3
Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (IRBIM), National Research Council (CNR), Largo Fiera della Pesca, 60125 Ancona, Italy
4
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30172 Mestre, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Molecules 2025, 30(19), 3958; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193958
Submission received: 4 September 2025 / Revised: 26 September 2025 / Accepted: 30 September 2025 / Published: 2 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Determination of Trace Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Environmental and Food Samples, 3rd Edition)
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Abstract

In recent years, insects have emerged as a nutritious and eco-sustainable alternative food source, with the house cricket (Acheta domesticus, 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 Acheta domesticus fed diets enriched with graded levels of the red seaweed Palmaria palmata or the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum 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.
Keywords: house cricket; novel food; seaweed; potentially toxic elements; risk assessment house cricket; novel food; seaweed; potentially toxic elements; risk assessment

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Ajdini, B.; Biancarosa, I.; Illuminati, S.; Annibaldi, A.; Girolametti, F.; Fanelli, M.; Massi, L.; Truzzi, C. Novel Food Safety Evaluation: Potentially Toxic Elements in Acheta domesticus (House Cricket) Reared on Seaweed-Enriched Diets. Molecules 2025, 30, 3958. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193958

AMA Style

Ajdini B, Biancarosa I, Illuminati S, Annibaldi A, Girolametti F, Fanelli M, Massi L, Truzzi C. Novel Food Safety Evaluation: Potentially Toxic Elements in Acheta domesticus (House Cricket) Reared on Seaweed-Enriched Diets. Molecules. 2025; 30(19):3958. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193958

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ajdini, Behixhe, Irene Biancarosa, Silvia Illuminati, Anna Annibaldi, Federico Girolametti, Matteo Fanelli, Lorenzo Massi, and Cristina Truzzi. 2025. "Novel Food Safety Evaluation: Potentially Toxic Elements in Acheta domesticus (House Cricket) Reared on Seaweed-Enriched Diets" Molecules 30, no. 19: 3958. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193958

APA Style

Ajdini, B., Biancarosa, I., Illuminati, S., Annibaldi, A., Girolametti, F., Fanelli, M., Massi, L., & Truzzi, C. (2025). Novel Food Safety Evaluation: Potentially Toxic Elements in Acheta domesticus (House Cricket) Reared on Seaweed-Enriched Diets. Molecules, 30(19), 3958. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30193958

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