After years of campaigning and deliberations, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), has given approval for the production of mealworm, locust, cricket, and grasshopper (and ingredients made from them such as cricket flour), for consumption by humans. This decision has been widely considered a breakthrough moment in the West. Not only is insect consumption beneficial to health, due to their high sources of protein, healthy fats and minerals, but it has long been advertised as essential to prevent climate change. For example, a cricket steak requires 2000x less water, and 12x less feed to produce than a beef steak of the same size. Easy and accessible changes such as switching out regular flour for protein-rich insect flour could have hugely beneficial impacts on our environment.
It is expected that the EFSA’s approval will lead to a final legislated authorisation of their sale across the EU, with products reaching shelves as soon as autumn. However, the UK, Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, and Denmark, used a loophole in the 1997 EU law requiring new foods to gain novel food authorisation, taking the approach that this did not apply to new animals being used to create those new foods. As such lots of insect-based products can be found in British, Dutch, Belgian and Finnish supermarkets, with about 500 tonnes of insect-based food for human consumption produced every year.
Written by Noah Mitchell
Artwork by Zara Masood
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