by Dipl. oec. Traute Kaufmann on 24 April 2024
Government fights back against insect meal in Italian cuisine
"We want to defend the quality of our food against the aggression of globalisation," said Minister Lollogrigida (1). In response to the European Union's authorisation for the sale of flour derived from crickets, migratory locusts, mealworms and larvae for human consumption, Italy adopted four decrees in March 2023. These prohibit the use of insect flour for pizza and pasta. They also oblige manufacturers to clearly indicate on the label if a product contains insect flour.
Italy is protecting its food tradition from EU plans to widely use insects as a source of protein
Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said at a press conference in Rome: "We will ensure that the measures announced today are fully complied with. This applies both to the ban on the use of insect flour in foods typical of Mediterranean cuisine, such as pizza and pasta, and to the labelling of products containing this flour, which must be clearly visible" (1). Italy insists on food sovereignty and consistently opposes the concept of insects as the protein source of the future. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (Lega) announced on social media: "Snacks with crickets? No thanks! If someone in Europe wants to eat insects, let them do it, for my children I prefer the flavours and aromas of our land and I defend them. And you?" (2).
Health Minister Orazio Schillaci pointed out at the press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty on 22 March 2023: "Anyone who buys these products based on insect meal must know that there is an allergy risk, even if we cannot currently quantify how specific" (3). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) comes to the following conclusion in its opinion on the risks of using insect meal in food and feeding insects to livestock: "[...] the possible presence of biological and chemical hazards in food and feed derived from insects would depend on the production processes, the diet of the insects (the substrate), the life cycle phase in which the insects are harvested, the insect species and the methods used for further processing [...]" (4).
The EU Commission's decision to regulate insect meal as a foodstuff is an attack on food tradition and quality
Maria Cristina Caretta (Fratelli d'Italia), MEP and Vice-President of the Montecitorio Agricultural Commission, said: "The European Commission's decision to introduce cricket powder as a food in the EU is part of a plan to destroy our food traditions, the excellence of the Mediterranean diet and Made in Italy. It is disheartening to learn that in the face of economic, energy, diplomatic and political crises, Europe can only put forward measures that border on madness, such as the regulation of insects as food. For us, the future of food is different, based on territory, tradition and quality, and we will certainly fight to defend it" (5).
Italian cuisine as a Unesco World Heritage Site prevents insect ingredients from sneaking in
A good move to prevent insect meal from "sneaking" into Italian food with the help of EU regulations is the support of the government in Rome for the candidature of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO Intangible World Heritage Site. The cabinet of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken up the proposal of Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano and decided to propose Italian cuisine for the 2023 Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. The evaluation process should be completed by December 2025 at the latest (1).
The Italian government is endeavouring to make it easy for consumers to decide for or against insect-based foods. This includes, in particular, the requirement to indicate the origin of the insect-based raw material and the country of origin on the packaging. In fact, this information is not even included in the EU regulations on the authorisation of these foods, but is only optional and at the discretion of the manufacturer. However, the Italian government is calling for absolute transparency here, particularly in view of the fact that, for cost reasons, breeding and processing into powder has so far largely taken place in countries outside the EU, where current hygiene and health regulations are less stringent than those in the EU (3).
If you don't want to take any risks, check your food purchases for insect meal, insect fat and other ingredients from insects with the app called InsectInspect / Insects in food.
The app can read the list of ingredients and therefore offers the highest hit rates
The app reads the EAN code or the list of ingredients and reliably identifies unwanted insect ingredients. And of course the app also works for checking dog and cat food for unwanted insect ingredients such as house cricket, flour beetle, grasshopper and buffalo worm. Unlike comparable apps, the app can read the list of ingredients and is therefore independent of the functionality of the EAN code. This is important because many EAN codes are not stored in official databases such as the Open Food Fact. This is where comparable apps fall short and often display a question mark because they cannot read the ingredients. Insect Inspect.app does not let you down here, which is particularly important for regional foods, as these are not usually stored in official databases. The app is available for both iOS and Android.
Sources:
(1) Der Standard (23.03.2023): Keine Heuschrecken für Pizza und Pasta in Italien. Abgerufen von https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000144836286/keine-heuschrecken-fuer-pizza-und-pastaam 23.04.2024.
(2) Loreti, L. (04.01.2023): Insetti, via libera dell'Ue alla polvere di grillo in snack e alimenti. La Repubblica. Abgerufen von Insekten, EU grünes Licht für Grillenpulver in Snacks und Lebensmitteln - la Repubblicaam 23.02.2024.
(3) Usai, G. (25.02.2023): Cosa prevede la normativa sulle farine d’insetti approvata dall’Italia. L’Indipendente. Abgerufen von https://www.lindipendente.online/2023/03/25/cosa-prevede-la-normativa-sulle-farine-dinsetti-approvata-dallitalia/ am 23.04.2024.
(4) efsa Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit (08.10.2015): Insekten als Lebens- und Futtermittel: Was sind die Risiken? Abgerufen von https://www.efsa.europa.eu/de/press/news/151008a#:~:text=Das%20Auftreten%20von%20Prionen%20%E2%80%93%20anormale,Proteinquellen%2C%20sofern%20das%20Substrat%20kein am 19.04.2024
(5) Gazetta del Sud (05.01.2023): Via libera nell'Unione europea a commercio grilli in polvere come alimento. Ma è polemica. Abgerufen von https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/societa/2023/01/05/via-libera-nellunione-europea-a-commercio-grilli-in-polvere-come-alimento-ma-e-polemica-8b331cfb-f9b3-45d8-aad4-88c0cf77f2c0/am 23.04.2024
Bildnachweise:
Italienische Flagge: Pixabay, DavidRockDesign.
Pizza& Pasta: Pixabay, Lazarosv