Tyson Foods invests in insects, but not for your chicken nuggets

Meat-processing giant Tyson Foods in October announced a partnership with Protix, a Netherlands-based startup that produces insect ingredients.

That has bugged some social media users, who worry those insects will end up in their food.

"Watch those chicken nuggets!!!" said a Dec. 9 Facebook post caption. Below was a screenshot showing part of Tyson Foods’ press release about the Protix partnership.

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We found other social media posts making similar comments about Tyson’s interest in bugs.

The screenshot shared on Facebook, however, shared only the first paragraph of the Oct. 17 press release. The full release says Tyson is taking a minority stake in Protix and partnering with it to build an insect-ingredient facility in the U.S.

That facility, Tyson said, would turn food manufacturing byproducts into "high-quality insect proteins and lipids which will primarily be used in the pet food, aquaculture, and livestock industries."

Essentially, black soldier flies feeding on waste from Tyson’s processing would be turned into food for animals.

"​​In addition to ingredients for the aquaculture and pet food industries, processed larvae may also be used as ingredients within livestock and plant feed," the press release said.

Edible insects have been pitched as a solution for world hunger and as a more environmentally friendly protein source than eating livestock. But eating bugs for food isn’t yet widespread or accepted in the U.S.

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(The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no specific regulations about insects as food for people, an FDA spokesperson told PolitiFact. But insects sold as food for people must comply with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, that is, they must be safe and produced in sanitary conditions. The act also requires manufacturers to label ingredients by their common names.) 

Neither Protix nor Tyson signaled whether they will someday venture into insect foods for human consumption. But the word "primarily" in Tyson’s press release may leave room for interpretation about future plans. A Tyson spokesperson told PolitiFact, though, that products made at the planned U.S. facility won’t be for human consumption. 

They will be used as a sustainable ingredient in premium pet food or as protein alternatives for "aquatic organisms," such as salmon and shrimp, the Tyson spokesperson said. Protix did not respond to a request for comment.

In an October CNN article about the partnership, Tyson Foods Chief Financial Officer John Tyson said the insects aren’t going into human food. "Today, we’re focused on more of [an] ingredient application with insect protein than we are a consumer application," he said.

The October press release didn’t mention using insects in food for people. None of the products with insect ingredients Protix lists on its website are for human consumption, either.

Tyson Foods’ chicken nuggets are made with chicken, water and wheat flour. Other ingredients, such as onion and garlic, are added for flavoring. There are no plans to add black soldier flies or other insects into the mix, a company spokesperson said. The claim is False.