EU allows insect flour: a new trend on the plate!

EU allows insect flour: a new trend on the plate!

EU, Europa - On February 10, 2025, a groundbreaking EU regulation comes into force that allows the use of mealworm powder in various foods. The European Commission has decided that the powdered product from the larvae of the flour beetle can now be processed into bread, cheese and pasta. This is followed by the approval of mealworms introduced as "new food", which initially only allowed the use in a dried form or as a snack, such as Oe24.at reported.

new possibilities and regulations

mealworm powder may be mixed up to four percent in various foods in the future after it was previously treated with the security by UV radiation. In addition to mealworms, other insects such as house barbecues and larvae of the grain -like beetle are also approved as food in the EU. However, there are also concerns about the labeling obligation, since insects can trigger allergies, similar to shellfish. Products with insect flour must be clearly marked as such in order to offer allergy sufferers the necessary protection, as the European Commission specifies.

The decision is part of a more comprehensive strategy of the EU to promote the use of insects as an environmentally friendly protein source. Insect breeding requires significantly fewer resources than traditional cattle breeding and could therefore contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These measures are in the context of the regulation introduced in 2018 on new foods that set clear rules for the market launch of insects. In order to avoid uncertainties, the European Court of Justice has also made it clear that entire insects have to be treated according to this regulation, which is more complex to make the approval more complex, as can be read in another article by ec.europa.ei