In the context of food safety, edible insects are evaluated for biological hazards such as microbial pathogens according to regulations currently in place. When the European Food Safety Authority evaluated the hazards of edible insects as a potential source of pathogenic viruses for humans and livestock, the novel zoonotic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 had not yet emerged but other pathogenic coronaviruses such as SARS (SARS-CoV) and MERS (MERS-CoV) were known. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, animal sources of protein for human consumption are being evaluated for the risks of being a transmission vector of coronaviruses, like SARS-CoV-2. Insects lack a receptor that can bind SARS-CoV-2, thus preventing the virus from replicating in insects, unlike some vertebrate livestock species and companion animals. Despite extensive monitoring, coronaviruses have never been recorded in insect microbiomes. Contamination of insects produced for food or feed may occur during the production process, resulting from rearing substrate or from insect farmers. However, the currently permitted rearing substrates do not include animal products and the farming process is highly automated, thus limiting interactions between farmers and insects. If contamination would still occur, the fact that the insects in production are not hosts to SARS-CoV-2 precludes virus replication and the further processing of the insects will destroy the contamination. We conclude that the hazard of edible insects being a transmission vector of SARS-CoV-2 is extremely low.

中文翻译：

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食用昆虫不太可能促进冠状病毒SARS-CoV-2的传播

在食品安全方面，根据现行法规对食用昆虫进行了生物危害性评估，例如微生物病原体。当欧洲食品安全局评估食用昆虫作为人类和家畜致病病毒的潜在来源的危害时，新型人畜共患冠状病毒SARS-CoV-2尚未出现，但其他致病性冠状病毒如SARS（SARS-CoV）和MERS（MERS-CoV）是已知的。由于发生了COVID-19大流行，人们正在评估人类食用动物蛋白来源是否具有像SARS-CoV-2这样的冠状病毒传播载体的风险。昆虫缺乏可以结合SARS-CoV-2的受体，因此可以阻止病毒在昆虫中复制，这与某些脊椎动物，牲畜和伴侣动物不同。尽管进行了广泛的监控，从未在昆虫微生物组中记录冠状病毒。生产食物或饲料的昆虫可能在生产过程中受到污染，这是由于饲养基质或昆虫农户造成的。但是，当前允许的饲养基质不包括动物产品，并且耕种过程是高度自动化的，因此限制了农民和昆虫之间的相互作用。如果仍会发生污染，则生产中的昆虫不是SARS-CoV-2的宿主这一事实将阻止病毒复制，并且昆虫的进一步加工将破坏污染。我们得出结论，食用昆虫是SARS-CoV-2的传播媒介，其危害极低。是由于饲养基质或昆虫农户造成的。但是，当前允许的饲养基质不包括动物产品，并且耕种过程是高度自动化的，因此限制了农民和昆虫之间的相互作用。如果仍会发生污染，则生产中的昆虫不是SARS-CoV-2的宿主这一事实将阻止病毒复制，并且昆虫的进一步加工将破坏污染。我们得出结论，食用昆虫是SARS-CoV-2的传播媒介，其危害极低。是由于饲养底物或害虫农民造成的。但是，当前允许的饲养基质不包括动物产品，并且耕种过程是高度自动化的，因此限制了农民和昆虫之间的相互作用。如果仍然会发生污染，生产中的昆虫不是SARS-CoV-2的宿主这一事实将阻止病毒复制，并且昆虫的进一步处理将破坏污染。我们得出结论，食用昆虫是SARS-CoV-2的传播媒介，其危害极低。生产中的昆虫不是SARS-CoV-2的宿主这一事实排除了病毒的复制，对昆虫的进一步加工将破坏污染。我们得出结论，食用昆虫是SARS-CoV-2的传播媒介，其危害极低。生产中的昆虫不是SARS-CoV-2的宿主这一事实排除了病毒的复制，而对昆虫的进一步处理将破坏污染。我们得出结论，食用昆虫是SARS-CoV-2的传播媒介，其危害极低。