![]() ![]() The following products are now included under Novel Foods: And luckily, we have also had some very supportive organizations such as IPIFF, helping producers in this area.įinally, on October 28 2015, a new Novel Food Regulation was voted on. As a result, Novel Foods were re-defined more clearly and in great depth and clearly. Throughout 2015, it was being heavily debated whether they were Novel Foods or regular foods. In Europe, it had also been unclear which category insects fall under. Gathering all of the information on allergen match-ups for insects and other foods and all potential allergens will take a lot of work and time. There are many other concerns in the United States about the lack of control over insects as food including the minimal information on allergies. There are also no specific regulations about how to raise insects as food, so instead, the farmers must use common sense and it make their own measure of quality. So, while there may be questions on the safety of eating bugs, people are already eating them without even knowing it.Īccording to an interview with Tiny Farm, there is a law that meat, poultry and eggs must be inspected by the USDA, however, insects do not fall into any of those categories either. The FDA then considers these food defects. Cinnamon may contain up to 400 insect parts per 50 grams. ![]() Peanut Butter may contain 30 insect parts per 100 grams.Chocolate may contain up to 60 insect parts per 100 grams.Some examples of this from the Huffington Post include: Yet, insects themselves, do not fall into a specific category. The FDA allows for percentage of insect fragments in food because they are an unavoidable defect. In the United States, the topic of insects has not been discussed as largely and the control of insects as food has slipped through the cracks of the FDA. The plan is to allow insects as food in 2016, and as far as we know that is still on track. However, According to the ESFA, Switzerland has not preformed a risk assessment on insects as food as of October 2015. ![]() “This is to protect consumers from fraud, because the consumer expectations in our culture are that insects are viewed as pests.”” “In addition, they must be recognizable as insects, so not processed. “The food safety office notes in its explanation on the new regulation that insects must be frozen and heated before delivery because they are potential carriers of parasites and disease-causing microbes.” “According to Evelyn Kirchsteiger-Meier, head of the department of quality management and food law at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, the food safety office is looking, among other things, at a risk analysis by the Belgian authorities. Here are some interesting excerpts from t his Swissinfo article: In February 2015, Switzerland was planning to approve some of the same insects as Belgium has been allowing. So what are the different countries of the world doing about it? Switzerland Plans To Allow Insects As Food This, along with the fact that farming insects also takes a lot less feed and water, means this option can no longer be ignored! While more that 2 billion people worldwide already include insects in their daily diet, both the United States and Europe have concerns when it comes to allowing the use of insects as food.Īs we all know, there are many amazing benefits to eating insects, including comparable protein by weight to more popular options such as turkey and fish. Exciting things are afoot in the Insects as Food arena, especially in Europe!Īs you may recall from our previous article on this topic, the topic of including insects in people’s diets has been a big discussion in Europe. ![]()
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