House crickets are the third species of edible insects approved in the EU
The house cricket has been approved as a novel food in the European Union. After mealworms and annelids, it is the third edible insect to be approved.
To begin with, the European Union was taking steps to legalise edible insect products in 2021. Earlier this year, the European Union Food Safety Authority ruled that mealworms are safe for human consumption. Less than a year later, it also approved migratory anemones in dried, frozen or powdered form. These decisions follow the Swiss Food Act of 2017. This law allows the sale of crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms in conventional grocery stores.
The regulation, published by the European Commission, came into force on 3 March 2022. The house cricket is therefore the third permitted edible insect in the European Union after mealworms and annelids. This was preceded by a statement from EFSA in August 2021, which is responsible for assessing applications for food approval for consumption. Fair Insects provided specific data on the production and processing of house crickets. Without this data, the safety assessment would not have been possible. The approval is only valid for the applicant for five years, i.e. until 3 March 2027.
This regulation has allowed, for example, startups in Germany to sell edible insects, although many of their applications were already submitted in 2018. On the German market, we can see different variations of these foods. These include insect noodles made from cricket flour from Beneto Foods, or crisps and biscuits bearing the Pinaks brand.
