Insects as ‘novel foods’ (3)

Subject: Insects as ‘novel foods’ (3)

A study drawn up by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) at the instigation of the Commission on potential biological and chemical hazards related to insects in food was published on 5 October 2015. It strongly recommended further research and data collection on human pathogenic parasites, fungi and yeasts, contaminants such as heavy metals in insects or the transmission of human viruses from residues from the intestinal contents of insects. Furthermore, according to the study, there is no information on the extent to which insects could act as vectors of prions. In addition, the report highlights the concern that antibiotics used in the breeding of insects could contribute to the development of resistance.

The latest EFSA opinion on the Commission’s decision to authorise house crickets as food shows that there has been little progress as regards the body of knowledge in this field.

This gives rise to the following questions:

1. Can the Commission say whether it commissioned the studies and data collection recommended by EFSA and, if so, whether the data is publicly available and where it can be consulted?

2. If it did not do so, how is it possible that, since 2021, insects have been authorised as food by the Commission in the EU, although a significant risk to consumers cannot be ruled out?

3. How does the Commission deal with the fact that – outside the EU – insects may be reared on human dung?

Submitted: 23.2.2023

Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

(25 April 2023)

The Novel Food Regulation (1) ensures that novel food, such as insects, are subject to strict scientific safety assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) before it is put on the market.

It was only when EFSA concluded that the use as food of the insects is safe, that the Commission, with the agreement of the Member States, authorised the use of these insects as foods with strict specifications and conditions of use for their placement on the market, whether reared in the EU or imported.

With the exception of the uncertainty as regards the allergenic potential of insects, for which ways to conduct research under the Horizon Europe (2) Framework Programme for Research and Innovation are explored (e.g. the projects Susinchain (3) and Giant Leaps (4)), the other identified uncertainties in the 2015 EFSA report were addressed by research and an extensive review of scientific data and studies submitted by applicants in support of the safety of their insects as foods as it is required by the Novel Food Regulation as well as the evaluation of the evolving body of evidence in the public domain that addressed all the biological and chemical hazards of concern that EFSA had identified in its 2015 report.

Furthermore, for insects imported into the EU for human consumption, in addition to the authorisation under the Novel Food Regulation, only third countries that comply with the relevant EU requirements and are thus listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405 (5) are allowed to export insects to the Union.

1 ∙ ⸱ Article 9(3) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on novel foods, amending Regulation (EU)

No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1852/2001. OJ L 327, 11.12.2015, p. 1.

2 ∙ ⸱ https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/funding/funding-opportunities/funding-programmes-and-open-calls/horizon-europe_en

3 ∙ ⸱ https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/861976

4 ∙ ⸱ https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101059632

5 ∙ ⸱ Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/405 of 24 March 2021 laying down the lists of third countries or regions thereof authorised for the entry into the

Union of certain animals and goods intended for human consumption in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council.