What’s the beef with insects?

The European Union, with two Regulations (i.e. a provision immediately enforceable as law without first going through the European or national parliaments), has given the go-ahead for the use of two other species of insects for food: the Acheta domesticus ( the house cricket) and the Alphitobius diaperionus (lesser mealworm).

Not that it’s an absolute novelty; in fact, there were two other species of insects that were green-lighted for food consumption: the migratory locust and the yellow mealworm.Now, I won’t go into “sustainability”, which seems to be the biggest advantage of all that (i’m not knowleadgable enough).

If there’s a moral issue about eating bugs, I think it’s dictated more by a certain “gastronationalism”, or food chauvinism, or whatever you want to call it (except for those who embrace the vegan lifestyle, of course).

“They don’t belong to European food culture”? Well, tomatoes didn’t belong to our culture until the first decades of the 19th century. Nor the potato until the mid-1700s. And if we go backwards: dried pasta, aubergines, oranges… Society evolves, and so does gastronomy, which welcomes foods and culinary traditions from other parts of the world .

“Eating bugs is gross”? I don’t know if you’ve ever seen intensive farming with your own eyes… Or if you know what traditional foods like French andouillette, Spanish criadillas or Roman pajata contain.

So, let’s agree on the fact that everyone has the right to eat what the heck they like, shall we?

What puzzles me is this: on the one hand European Food Safety Agency has established that “the consumption of the migratory locust is not nutritionally disadvantageous and does not raise any safety concerns for human beings”, so much so that it is not necessary to highlight the presence of certain foods on the label (as is the case for the other 8 major allergens); yet, the Agency itself has admitted that “the consumption of the migratory locust may potentially lead to certain allergic reactions”, and advises against its consumption by minors under the age of 18.

The European Commission has been charged with carrying out in-depth research on the potential dangers of consuming these insects (or foods derived from these), however, it does not require special labeling as for those foods containing eggs, nuts , soy, seafood, etc…

How is that not contravening the “Precautionary Principle”, is beyond my ability to understand…

There is a special labeling requirement for marine arthropods… Why not also for those on land?