The claim

The EU has now allowed home barbecues as a food additive. Many people therefore fear that many foods will soon no longer be truly vegan.

Our conclusion

In principle, insects have been allowed as “novel food” since 2017, and approvals have also been available since 2021. However, since studies on the allergenicity of insects are still pending, manufacturers have so far been reluctant to distribute the products on a large scale for fear of waves of lawsuits. So it will be a while before house cricket powder is actually used in food.

Bad news for allergy sufferers and animal lovers: Frozen, dried and powdered forms of Acheta domesticus (crickets, also known as house crickets) will be added to the Union list of approved novel foods, even though the allergenicity of Acheta domesticus is not yet complete was researched.
But this is not entirely new, as the EU has been allowing certain companies to produce so-called novel foods since 2017.

The excitement

We receive a lot of inquiries about this topic, here are just a few as examples:

Many inquiries on the topic
Many inquiries on the topic

There are also many links that lead to sometimes more, sometimes less serious articles. The claims are also becoming more and more independent: supposedly, for example, the insects are secretly added in order to poison the population, which is part of the big plan to reduce the world population.

However, EU approval for so-called novel food has been in place since 2017. Only a fourth company has currently received approval to process insects into novel food, and foods with these additives must then be labeled accordingly - if they are used at some point appear on the market.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

The EU approval from 2017

Actually, we could theoretically have been eating grasshopper burgers and house cricket pizza for just over 5 years, because on December 20, 2017, the implementing regulation for the creation of the Union list of novel foods ( document 32017R2470 ) was published.

The detailed German version (see HERE ) contains a long list of foods that will be permitted in the EU in the future, e.g. peptides from the fish Sardinops sagax , protein extract from pig kidney and cockscomb extract, but many more chemical and herbal additives such as vitamins K, algae oil from the microalga Ulkenia sp. , basil seeds and fermented black bean extract.

House crickets etc. were not yet on the list of permitted foods at the time, but when the Novel Food Regulation came into force within the EU (by definition, previously unused foods from other cultures), insects as food were already being discussed in 2017 (e.g. HERE and HERE ).

2021 – The first approvals of insects

The first insects were approved as food in 2021:

2022 – The house cricket is permitted

Surprise: The house cricket was approved as food as early as 2022. So nothing new has really been approved by the EU, only the dosage form has changed:

2023 – Again the house cricket and a grain mold beetle

What has currently been approved is nothing other than the house cricket as food again, only this time from a different applicant and in a different dosage form. And a beetle comes along too:

Approval: Yes - but possible allergies are a big obstacle!

Let's take a look at the widespread approval of house crickets as a partially degreased powder, as this is currently being discussed and sometimes misinformed.

According to the approval, domestic crickets in powder form can be used in the following foods: multigrain bread and rolls, crackers and breadsticks, cereal bars, dry premixes for baked goods, biscuits, dry filled and unfilled pasta products, sauces, processed potato products, legume-based dishes and vegetables, pizza, pasta products, whey powder, meat analogues, soups and soup concentrates or powders, cornmeal-based snacks, beer-like drinks, chocolate products, nuts and oilseeds, snacks other than chips and meat preparations.

And now let's look at the reality:
Since 2021, various insects have been allowed as additives in a wide variety of foods, but so far you have to look for them with a magnifying glass in grocery stores, only some online mail order companies already offer house crickets as food. Why is that?

The problem is possible allergies, and this is also pointed out in the permit:

“In its report, the authority also stated that consumption of partially defatted powder from Acheta domesticus (house cricket) can trigger allergic reactions in people who are allergic to crustaceans, molluscs and house dust mites. “The authority also found that additional allergens could enter the novel food if these allergens are contained in the substrate fed to the insects.”

The following is a sentence that is often contradicted in the claims: Such foods must then be clearly labeled!

“It is therefore appropriate that foods containing partially defatted Acheta domesticus powder be labeled accordingly in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.”

Important for the applicants: protection under property law

The EU therefore allows the respective applicants to sell the house crickets etc. as food (additives). However, they have apparently only done this on a very small scale so far, because the risk of being sued due to previously unknown allergic reactions is very high.

The approval also points out that further reports will be necessary:

“The authority recommended further research into the allergenicity of Acheta domesticus. In order to comply with the Authority's recommendation, the Commission is currently examining the possibility of carrying out the necessary research into the allergenicity of Acheta domesticus."

That's why you won't find pulverized house crickets in pizza dough any time soon: the applicants will be careful not to offer their products too quickly and then perhaps be overwhelmed by a wave of lawsuits. But what is important: property rights protection!

With the respective approvals, the applicants also received confirmation that they had sole ownership protection:

“On July 24, 2019, the applicant further requested the Commission to protect proprietary scientific studies and data submitted in support of the application; In detail, this involves a detailed description of the manufacturing process (3) , results of immediate analyzes (4) , analysis data on contaminants (5) , results of stability studies (6) , analysis data on microbiological parameters (7) and results of studies on protein digestibility .”

In other words: all studies, manufacturing processes and analyzes in connection with the product remain the property of the applicant and may not be passed on to competitors who then develop a similar product. In this way, the applicant secures the market, but also bears sole responsibility.

Let's summarize

  • In principle, insects have been allowed as “novel food” since 2017, and approvals have also been available since 2021
  • Nevertheless, the market is not yet flooded with house cricket powder and dried flour beetles
  • The EU gave approval to individual applicants, but also recommended that studies on allergies be carried out
  • This is exactly why this will be delayed, as the applicants want to avoid a possible wave of lawsuits due to undetected allergies
  • However, approval is already important for the applicants, as it means they also protect their products and all studies and analyzes on them under proprietary rights

So in the future we will probably find house cricket powder and similar products as protein-rich additives in foods. But these will then be marked accordingly. In addition, applicants are currently still shying away from widespread distribution, as undetected allergies and subsequent lawsuits can mean the end of the company.

Article image: Pixabay

Further sources:

Insect Economy , Greek Reporter , Food Association Germany , Business Leaders , Research Gate , Food Compliance , European Food Safety Authority , IPIFF , Consumer Advice Center
Also interesting: Whey is no longer a waste material today, but contains valuable raw materials for many processed foods, such as whey protein.
Whey Protein – The best of whey?

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