AAFCO 2021 Midyear — T60.117(C) Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae Tentative Definition for Adult Dog Food
At the AAFCO Ingredient Definitions Committee (IDC) Midyear Meeting, January 2021 (first session, virtual), the Pet Food Committee discussed a new tentative definition for Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) extending use to adult dog food. The discussion was tabled and revisited in the second session. The motion to publish a new tentative definition T60.117(C) was carried and ultimately tentatively approved in August 2021 at the AAFCO Annual Meeting.
The Definitive T60.117(C) Text (Published in OP Chapter 6)
> T60.117 (C) Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae is the dried larvae of the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens, with or without mechanical extraction of part of the oil, that has been raised on feedstock composed exclusively of feed grade materials. The ingredient must be labeled with guarantees for minimum crude protein and minimum crude fat on an as-fed basis. If oil is mechanically extracted, maximum crude fat must also be guaranteed on the ingredient label. The ingredient is dried by artificial means to no more than 10% moisture. It is for use in salmonid, poultry, and swine feed and in adult dog food, as a source of protein and fat consistent with good feeding practices.
Key Identifiers
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Definition number | T60.117(C) |
| Common name | Dried Black Soldier Fly Larvae |
| Scientific name | Hermetia illucens |
| Maximum moisture | 10% (artificial drying) |
| Authorised animal use | salmonid, poultry, swine feed + adult dog food |
| Required label guarantees | min crude protein, min crude fat, max crude fat (if oil mechanically extracted) |
| Meeting | IDC Midyear, January 2021 |
| Tentative approval | August 2021 (Annual Meeting) |
| Proposed by | Erin Bubb (Pet Food Committee, Item 9) |
Companion T33.29 Black Soldier Fly Larvae Oil (Tentative 2021)
In parallel, the same 2021 IDC moved to publish a new tentative definition for T33.29 Black Soldier Fly Larvae Oil — "the product obtained by mechanically extracting the oil from dried larvae of Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens, that have been raised on a feedstock composed exclusively of feed grade materials" — proposed by Richard Ten Eyck.
Significance
This was the first time AAFCO explicitly added "adult dog food" to the BSFL use list, marking the formal entry of insect protein into the US pet food regulatory framework as a permitted ingredient for adult dogs. The motion was moved by Stan Cook, MO (a long-standing IDC member) and approved at the IDC Midyear 2021.
Source
pdf-raw/insect-protein-2026/aafco-idc-minutes-2021-midyear.pdf (AAFCO wp-content aafco.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Ingredient_Definitions_Minutes_2021_Midyear.pdf, 432 KB, downloaded 2026-07-21).
For the 2024 upgrade to Official for finfish and the 2025 Official for adult dog/cat food, see companion topics aafco_2024_t60_117a_bsfl_official_finfish and aafco_2025_t60_117_bsfl_official_adult_dog_cat.