Cricket flour, new food production source in EU
Source：topagrar
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Warsaw
Update Time：2023/03/11
The European Commission has approved the legal use of cricket flour in food production starting from late January 2023. The species that is considered safe is called Acheta domesticus – a house cricket. The powder can now find its way into many popular staple foods such as breads, cookies, crackers, bars and beverages in Polish markets.
For now there is only one company with production permission - Cricket One Co. Ltd. with their headquarters in Vietnam. The company can produce flour for food production in the European market, according to a proprietary specification, until January 24, 2028. Currently the extensions of authorization to other companies are being planned.
According to the implementing regulation of the European Commission of January 4, 2023, it is allowed to:
- the placing on the Union market of partially defatted Acheta domesticus (house cricket) powder from 24 January 2023 as a novel food;
- addition of powder to certain food products in the maximum permissible amount in accordance with the conditions of use of this novel food indicated in the regulation.
This means that, for example, for the food category “Multigrain bread and rolls; crackers and sticks” the maximum amount of cricket flour addition is 2 g/100 g of the product.
The addition of cricket flour must be properly labeled on food labels, therefore products containing the powder must inform about this and that the ingredient may cause allergic reactions in consumers who have been diagnosed with allergies to crustaceans, molluscs, products derived from them and to house dust mites.
The use of insects for food production in European Union is justified primarily by economic and ecological reasons. In insect breeding, there is no need to use very large areas, as is the case with poultry or cattle breeding. Water and feed consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions are also reduced.
This step is just one of the many that are being implemented in Poland and other European countries in order to slowly minimalize the effects of degradation of our planet.
Source: https://www.topagrar.pl/articles/prawo/maka-ze-swierszczy-w-zywnosci-proszek-z-owadow-zalegalizowany-w-ue/