The Swiss are way ahead of the EU
von Dipl.oec. Traute Kaufmann am 10. Juli 2023
Who would have thought it? It is not the EU Commission, but a Swiss company that has taken on the role of pioneer for insects in food in Europe. The Zurich-based company Essento says of itself that it initiated the legislative change in Switzerland to authorise insects as food (1). Insects are currently considered farm animals under Swiss feed legislation. For example, the mealworm in the larval stage (Tenebrio molitor), the adult cricket (Acheta domesticus) and the European locust (Locusta migratoria) "[...] may be placed on the market for human consumption, as whole animals, crushed or ground" (2). Since January 2023, the partially defatted powder of the house cricket has also been authorised as a novel food and may be added in the production of multigrain bread rolls, cereal bars, biscuits, sauces, pasta, pizzas, processed potato products, soups, chocolate and (vegan) meat preparations (3; see also Regulation (EU) 2017/2470)).
EU-marketable insects are not subject to authorisation in Switzerland
The Swiss market is open to foods containing insect ingredients authorised as novel foods in the EU. Estelle Hain from the Federal Food Safety Office explains: "As the placing on the market of partially defatted cricket powder is authorised for human consumption in the European Union, it is automatically also authorised in Switzerland". Vice versa, however, this does not apply. Again, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office informs citizens: "All novel foods that are marketable in the EU according to the Union list can be placed on the market in Switzerland without authorisation, provided that they comply with all regulations according to the individual implementing decisions and notifications. However, the reverse conclusion does not apply: foods that are not novel foods in Switzerland or have been authorised as such in Switzerland and are considered novel foods in the EU require an authorisation from the European Commission in order to be placed on the market in the EU" (4). In view of the experience gained from the BSE scandal in 2000 (see below), the question arises as to whether it is appropriate to rely on the decisions made in Brussels when using insects, and in particular partially defatted powder from house crickets, in foodstuffs.
More and more countries are taking a stand against insects in food
The Swiss company Essento now develops, produces and markets insects for the retail and catering sectors throughout the European market (1). While the company says it wants to "[...] educate the population [...]" and "[...] drive forward the food revolution [...]" as well as "[...] make eating insects acceptable in Europe [...]" (1), more and more countries are resisting these intentions. Hungary's Minister of Agriculture, István Nagy, recently commented on insects in food: "Thanks to the diligence and perseverance of Hungarian farmers, we have an abundance of high-quality raw materials, fresh, healthy and high-quality food, so we don't have to eat waste." Insect-containing food must also be placed on separate shelves in Hungary (5). Qatar has recently banned the addition of insects to food. The Ministry of Public Health published the following statement: "Referring to the circulating reports about the decision of some countries to approve the use of insects in food production, the Ministry of Public Health emphasises that it bans food products containing insects from the markets as they do not meet the requirements of the technical halal regulations for food" (5).
From startup to future politically-approved substitute for wheat flour?
At present, insects in food are still a niche market and the prices for insect flour are not yet competitive with grain flour. Reassuring voices like to use this as an argument to dismiss the danger of an increased substitution of cereal flour by insect powder in the future, which is politically desired and therefore prescribed by law. Currently, the addition of 5 grams of insect meal per 100 grams of meat is permitted. Critical voices may see the authorisation of insects as a new foodstuff as a tandem strategy by Brussels, which may not correspond entirely coincidentally with the obligation to set aside 4% of agricultural land from 2023. Are the resulting food losses (wheat flour, beef and pork, etc.) to be replaced by the new food "insect"? There are now several insect farms in Europe that are targeting the "food for humans" segment and promoting insect powder as "This is the Future" (6). If eating insects is to become a politically desired habit among the EU population, food multinationals such as Nestlé et al will certainly soon enter the insect business and make corresponding investments, so that insect flour will be cheaper than wheat flour in the future. The question then arises as to what extent it will still be possible to prevent insect flour from being used as a standard ingredient in bread, baked goods, cereals and the like.
Several studies warn against eating insects
But there are good reasons to prevent this. For example, according to the 2016 study published by five scientists in Frontiers in Microbiology, chitin was found in the brain tissue of Alzheimer's patients (7). Another study from 2018 indicates that the interactions between the chitin present in the insect exoskeleton and the immune system are not yet fully understood (8). In addition, harmful substances such as cadmium can accumulate in the fat bodies of the fat-rich insect larvae, which can lead to kidney or bone damage and trigger allergies or even anaphylactic shock.
BSE: Meat-and-bone meal has been banned for ruminants for good reason
In 2000, the BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) epidemic broke out in Europe. Bovine mad cow disease, which affects the brain, demonstrably spread to humans as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It is assumed that the sponge-like brain disease was transmitted to cattle through the feeding of sheep that had died of scrapie. Instead of disposing of the animal carcasses, they were processed as a cheap raw material by the British animal feed industry and fed to cattle. After the first outbreaks, the feeding of animal meal was banned in England. Meanwhile, the remains were transported to mainland Europe by the tonne. At the time, the health and agriculture ministers of the EU member states blamed the EU for the abuse (9). According to the German Animal Feed Association (Deutscher Verband für Tiernahrung e.V.), animal proteins may no longer be fed to ruminants since this scandal broke. This means that insect meal is out of the question for use as cattle feed, as insect protein is legally categorised as an animal protein (10).
If you prefer to exercise caution in view of the background described, this app will help you when shopping for food also for dogs and cats:
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 crickets, flour beetles, grasshoppers and buffalo worms.
The app can read the list of ingredients and therefore offers the highest hit rates
Unlike comparable apps, Insect Inspect.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) Essento (undated). Essento - the insect pioneer in Europe. Retrieved from https://essento.ch/ueber-uns/ on 10/07/2023.
(2) Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office - FSVO (06/04/2017). Information letter 2017/1: Production and processing of insects for use as food. S. 3.
(3) Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (27.01.23). Insects as food. Retrieved from https://www.blv.admin.ch/blv/de/home/lebensmittel-und-ernaehrung/lebensmittelsicherheit/einzelne-lebensmittel/insekten.html on 10/07/2023.
(4) Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (14.06.2023). Authorisation of novel foods. Retrieved from https://www.blv.admin.ch/blv/de/home/lebensmittel-und-ernaehrung/rechts-und-vollzugsgrundlagen/bewilligung-und-meldung/bewilligung.html on 10/07/2023.
(5) Schmidt, J. (12/02/2023). Insects in food: Resistance forming inside and outside the EU. German economic news. Retrieved from https://deutsche-wirtschafts-nachrichten.de/702223/Insekten-in-Lebensmitteln-In-und-ausserhalb-der-EU-formiert-sich-Widerstand on 10/07/2023.
(7) Pisa, D., Alonso, R., Rábano, A., Horst, M.N., Carrasco, L. (07/11/2016). Fungal Enolase, β-Tubulin, and Chitin Are Detected in Brain Tissue from Alzheimer's Disease Patients. Frontiers in Microbiology. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01772/full on 10/07/2023.
(8) Ali Komi, D.E., Lokesh S, Dela Cruz, C.S. (01/04/2018). Chitin and Its Effects on Inflammatory and Immune Responses. HHS Public Access. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5680136/pdf/nihms912752.pdf on 10/07/2023.
(9) Heed, L. (24 November 2020). BSE crisis in 2000: The BSE crisis reaches Germany. NDR.de. Retrieved from https://www.ndr.de/geschichte/chronologie/BSE-Krise-im-Jahr-2000-Die-Rinderseuche-erreicht-Deutschland-,bse102.html on 10/07/2023.
(10) Deutscher Verband für Tiernahrung e.V., Retrieved from https://www.dvtiernahrung.de/aktuelles/themen-positionen/tierische-eiweisse Deutscher Verband Tiernahrung e.V. on 10/07/2023.
(11) Swiss symbol from Fil-Magic on Pixabay.
(12) Insect factory licence acquired from Yulia Adobe Stock.