On January 3rd, 2023, the European Union agreed to allow the use of ground insects in all kinds of food products, including biscuits, bread, beer, and chocolate bars. This measure is worrying consumers, who fear that they will have to scrutinise the labels to know what to expect from their usual brands.
Two new insects are now authorised for human consumption: the lesser mealworm and the powdered house cricket, in defatted form. Until 1997, the use of insects was strictly regulated and had to undergo a long and rigorous authorisation procedure. But the barriers are gradually coming down. In January 2021, Europe authorised the larvae of the molitor beetle (the yellow mealworm), which is used in special foods for sportsmen or elderly people because of its high protein content. Currently, eight beetles are the subject of an ongoing approval procedure.
Should we be alarmed? The use of these new types of food is not likely to be massive. They are expensive products and would not be used by the food industry as cheap substitutes for other ingredients. But the list of foods likely to contain them in the future is impressive: breads, cereal breads, biscuits, beers, chocolate confectionery, vegetable and pasta dishes, cereal bars, and sauces. It’ll be hard to avoid them. And we should certainly not expect any flashy signs on the packaging, such as “contains insects.” These elements will be mentioned in the ingredients as animal proteins or protein meals, perhaps with a code, as is already the case for the colouring agent E120, or cochineal red, which is produced from South American aphids. This could make life a little more complicated for vegetarians and other vegans, and open up new debates: what about animal suffering in cricket slaughterhouses?
All joking aside, why this obsession on the part of Brussels officials with making the citizens of old Europe eat insects? Perhaps it should not be seen as a concerted ideological plan, but rather as one of the many avatars of a rootless globalist way of thinking that takes on unexpected aspects, which can be summed up as follows: in the age of happy globalisation, if it’s done elsewhere, why not here? The craze for insects can certainly also be explained by the pressure of ecological activism: for the same mass, there is as much protein in mealworms as in beef… a convenient observation for all those who have sworn the death of the T-bone because of its carbon footprint.
Cooking and eating habits are in essence deeply cultural and inherited from centuries-old traditions. Some will see it as a seemingly harmless but very strong bastion of identity. In Africa, Asia, and South America, insects have been eaten since the dawn of time: in omelets, on skewers, in soup, or in fritters. Good for them. But not in Europe, where insect-based food inspires distrust and disgust. Not without reason: the mealworm, which the European Union has just declared edible, has shared the existence of millers for centuries, who were not necessarily delighted to see these little beasts, which sometimes carry parasites, multiply in their flour. Today, it is difficult to believe that these creatures, which can feed on polystyrene, will end up on our plates.
Can we not respect this particularity, or should we see it as one more prejudice to be deconstructed—an additional field open to woke activism? Why on earth would some people want to impose this way of eating on the whole planet? The French, who are great fans of snails and frogs, are careful not to try to impose their eating habits on their neighbours. It would be odd to find Burgundy snails with parsley sauce on the menu of a Swedish brasserie. The unknown and the irreducible differences are the basis of exotic travel. Confronting them is the privilege of the curious and daring explorer. So let’s leave the crickets in the field, off our plates!
A Bug in the Plate
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On January 3rd, 2023, the European Union agreed to allow the use of ground insects in all kinds of food products, including biscuits, bread, beer, and chocolate bars. This measure is worrying consumers, who fear that they will have to scrutinise the labels to know what to expect from their usual brands.
Two new insects are now authorised for human consumption: the lesser mealworm and the powdered house cricket, in defatted form. Until 1997, the use of insects was strictly regulated and had to undergo a long and rigorous authorisation procedure. But the barriers are gradually coming down. In January 2021, Europe authorised the larvae of the molitor beetle (the yellow mealworm), which is used in special foods for sportsmen or elderly people because of its high protein content. Currently, eight beetles are the subject of an ongoing approval procedure.
Should we be alarmed? The use of these new types of food is not likely to be massive. They are expensive products and would not be used by the food industry as cheap substitutes for other ingredients. But the list of foods likely to contain them in the future is impressive: breads, cereal breads, biscuits, beers, chocolate confectionery, vegetable and pasta dishes, cereal bars, and sauces. It’ll be hard to avoid them. And we should certainly not expect any flashy signs on the packaging, such as “contains insects.” These elements will be mentioned in the ingredients as animal proteins or protein meals, perhaps with a code, as is already the case for the colouring agent E120, or cochineal red, which is produced from South American aphids. This could make life a little more complicated for vegetarians and other vegans, and open up new debates: what about animal suffering in cricket slaughterhouses?
All joking aside, why this obsession on the part of Brussels officials with making the citizens of old Europe eat insects? Perhaps it should not be seen as a concerted ideological plan, but rather as one of the many avatars of a rootless globalist way of thinking that takes on unexpected aspects, which can be summed up as follows: in the age of happy globalisation, if it’s done elsewhere, why not here? The craze for insects can certainly also be explained by the pressure of ecological activism: for the same mass, there is as much protein in mealworms as in beef… a convenient observation for all those who have sworn the death of the T-bone because of its carbon footprint.
Cooking and eating habits are in essence deeply cultural and inherited from centuries-old traditions. Some will see it as a seemingly harmless but very strong bastion of identity. In Africa, Asia, and South America, insects have been eaten since the dawn of time: in omelets, on skewers, in soup, or in fritters. Good for them. But not in Europe, where insect-based food inspires distrust and disgust. Not without reason: the mealworm, which the European Union has just declared edible, has shared the existence of millers for centuries, who were not necessarily delighted to see these little beasts, which sometimes carry parasites, multiply in their flour. Today, it is difficult to believe that these creatures, which can feed on polystyrene, will end up on our plates.
Can we not respect this particularity, or should we see it as one more prejudice to be deconstructed—an additional field open to woke activism? Why on earth would some people want to impose this way of eating on the whole planet? The French, who are great fans of snails and frogs, are careful not to try to impose their eating habits on their neighbours. It would be odd to find Burgundy snails with parsley sauce on the menu of a Swedish brasserie. The unknown and the irreducible differences are the basis of exotic travel. Confronting them is the privilege of the curious and daring explorer. So let’s leave the crickets in the field, off our plates!
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