The range of options with which it is
possible to consume yellow mealworm on European tables is
growing.
The European Commission has given the green light to market the
flour of whole mealworm larvae of Tenebrio molitor (also known
as yellow mealworms) treated with UV rays, including it a among
the EU's 'new foods', novel foods, that is, those foods or
production techniques that were not consumed "in a significant
way" before May 1997.
Yellow mealworm larvae had already received the green light from
Brussels to be sold in 'dried' and in 'frozen and powdered'
form.
Now the EU has also given its approval for the use of larvae
flour treated with ultraviolet rays, then transformed into
bread, rolls, cakes, pasta products, processed potato products,
cheese and dairy products and fruit and vegetable compotes.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considers these "safe"
but Health Undersecretary Marcello Gemmato has said Italy will
monitor so that "the principle of transparency and the right of
citizens to choose with full awareness what they consume through
labels and detailed information" is respected.
For the next five years only the French company Nutri'Earth, a
leader in industrial property protection, will be able to market
the new food, unless another company obtains authorization or
consent from Nutri'Earth itself.
The led to an outcry from MEPs Alexander Bernhuber of the EPP
and Laurence Trochu of the ECR, who last week tried to oppose
the authorization in the European Parliament by presenting an
objection - supported by, among others, League MEP Silvia
Sardone and Paolo Inselvini of the Brothers of Italy (FdI) who
called it "an insult to European farmers" but to no avail.
The objection was then rejected by the Environment Committee
(ENVI) by a handful of votes.
Without imposing them on European consumers' tables, since 2021
Brussels has authorized the entry of four insects on the single
market as novel foods, considering them an "alternative source
of protein".
Along with the yellow larva, the short EU list also includes
'frozen, dried and powdered' Migratory Locust and 'frozen, dried
and powdered' and 'partially defatted' House Cricket (technical
name: Acheta domesticus).
The fourth and last insect authorized in 2023 by Brussels was
Alphitobius diaperionus, or the lesser mealworm.
The market for new foods is still underdeveloped but could soon
include controversial meat grown in a laboratory: a request by
the French start-up Gourmey to authorize the sale of foie gras
grown in test tubes has been on the table at the European
Commission since the summer.
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