Mealworms can be safely handled during all life stages (except as eggs) and provide a great sensory activity for children. Holding a heap of wriggling and jiggling mealworms in your hand, between your fingers is nothing you've ever felt before and most children love it. The pupa and adult beetle can be handled to.
Can mealworms harm humans?
Mealworms are safe for human consumption. EFSA's latest batch of scientific opinions on novel food applications includes a significant first – a safety assessment of a proposed insect-derived food product: dried yellow mealworm.
Can mealworms carry diseases?
Lesser mealworms readily feed on dead and dying birds. They can become contaminated with pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, or infectious bursal disease virus.
Are mealworm beetles toxic?
It is a darkling beetle, also called a mealworm beetle. These insects tend to hide so they can be found under, in, or between stacked hay bales. Darkling beetles do not contain cantharidin, the toxin in blister beetles; they are not harmful.
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