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The opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is a first step before officials decide whether to approve the sale of sandwiches, protein bars, cookies and other foods that contain beetles.
A favorable solution should lead to a boom in the insect farming business, which, according to researcher Arcluster, predicts that by 2025. It will multiply tenfold and exceed 4.1 billion worldwide. Dollars. Insects are considered a sustainable source of protein due to their lower environmental impact and high nutritional value. They are currently attracting unprecedented venture capital funds and the attention of giants like Cargill Inc. and Nestlé SA.
“This is a clear and important achievement for the entire industry,” said Antoine Hubert, co-founder of Ynsect SAS, France, which grows large flours and plans to enter the sports nutritional supplement market. – We expect a snowball effect. This will increase opportunities to invest in increased capacity and attract additional funds to support growth. “
This is the first risk assessment of insects as an innovative food published by EFSA in Parma, Italy. The services are awaiting another 14 applications for the nutritional suitability of various beetles, from crickets to grasshoppers. The Authority also noted that allergic reactions to the larvae are possible and that further testing will be necessary.
Europe was one of the first to be interested in supplementing the diet with insects: an increasing number of start-ups dedicated to breeding insects are offering them as part of the transition to a sustainable food agenda. The EU authorities are tirelessly pouring money into research and factories. The block already makes it possible to add insect powder to food for fish, dogs and cats.
So far, the biggest success has not been feeding humans, but feeding insects to animals. The International Insect Platform for Food and Feed (IPIFF) expects poultry and pigs to continue online. It is projected that by 2030. Europe will produce 3 million tonnes of insect protein each year: only 10%. They will be for human consumption and most of them for animal feed, estimated the Brussels-based lobby group.
“There are increasing opportunities to work with new sustainable ingredients in the animal feed industry,” said Helene Ziv, Cargill’s director of risk management and supply for the animal nutrition business. – In fact, we strongly believe in insects. We really like the quality of their food. “
Cargill has partnered with InnovaFeed SAS, which supplies insect protein to fish feed, and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. plans to establish a giant black flounder farm in Illinois. Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, has added a new line of pet food made from insects.
Several EU countries, including Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands, already allow the sale of food containing insects in stores. Around 2,000 species of insects are included in the diets of approximately 2 billion people worldwide, but many European consumers have yet to overcome what Niccolo Manzoni, a partner at Paris-based Five Seasons Ventures, calls the “factor of disgust. “
And that is not the only obstacle. According to him, insect food producers need significant funds to increase production and offset costs. The industry has a long way to go before it reaches the commercial scale that the marine ingredients sector finally has, said Anne Mette Baek, director of European fishmeal and fish oil producers in Copenhagen.
One company already moving to the table is Protix BV, which operates the largest insect farm in Europe and has attracted the interest of investors such as Aqua-Spark and Rabobank’s private equity division. The producer, based in Dongen, the Netherlands, raises black-winged larvae to feed fish and pets, and last summer opened an online store that sells food made from crickets and larvae from large flours. Revenue quadrupled last year, CEO Kees Aarts said in an interview.
“It’s fun to be on the cutting edge of a whole new category of nutrition,” Aarts said. – We will see a whole new range of applications soon. So far, this is only the surface of the potential that this little creature offers. “
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