Agro Napló • 2021. június 21. 22:55
Following the European Commission's decision to approve mealworms as the first insect as food in the European Union, Rafael Perez, team leader for Novel foods at DG SANTE, discusses the move to expand the dietary choices of EU consumers, the growing role that insects will play as part of a healthier, more sustainable diet, as well as the benefits for the environment for years to come.
Why are insects being authorised as food?
Following recent authorisation, mealworms are now considered as a ‘novel food', any food that has not been widely consumed by people in the EU before 15 May 1997, when the first Regulation on novel food came into force.
A stringent scientific assessment that was carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) led Member States to give the Commission the go-ahead to allow a food business operator, who had applied for this authorisation, to place the product on the EU market.
The Commission then adopted the legal act on 1 June 2021.
Of course, it is up to consumers to decide whether they want to eat insects or not, but consuming insects is nothing new as they already are included in diets in many parts of the world.
Are insects as food safe?
Yes. Novel Foods can only be authorised if they pose no risk to human health. Following an application by the company SAS EAP Group, the product went through a stringent scientific assessment by EFSA, which concluded that yellow mealworm is safe.
I would like to stress that these newly authorised food are subject to EU rules governing the labelling of allergens, which identify a list of 14 allergens that need to be labelled such as eggs, milk, fish, crustaceans and now insects. Such rules grant people living with food allergies more power to make informed decisions and avoid products that contain ingredients to which they are sensitive.
For general health issues, such as food allergies, EFSA concluded that consumption of the yellow mealworm could potentially lead to allergic reactions, especially for those with pre-existing allergies to crustaceans and dust mites. However, such incidences remain very low.
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