EU moves to approve insects for human consumption

The European Union (EU), has given the nod to legislation that would allow for mealworms, lesser mealworms, crickets, and locusts to be sold as “novel food sources,” thereby, pumping life into an industry that, while small, produces

500 tons of food annually.

The products include items such as cricket protein bars, locust aperitif, or mealworm burgers.

With the consent of the EU and new regulations from the European Food Safety Authority, it is believed that this could open the floodgates for insect food to flow from countries where they are made like Holland, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Belgium, and Finland, into countries where they are banned, such as Italy, France, and Spain.

According to the Secretary General of the International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed, Christophe Derrien, companies in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and Spain are all preparing to ramp up operations to prepare for the demand.