The EU green light for the marketing of flour moths as food divides farmers and chefs, meets the clear opposition of the food industry champion of Made in Italy but for those who have been researching in this field for years “they are an opportunity and it is wrong contrasting traditional food with novel food. Among other things – explains Professor Laura Gasco of the Faculty of Agriculture in Turin – it is easier to produce food for human consumption from insects than to make feed ». The theme therefore is how to reconcile tradition and innovation taking into account the fact that in the next four years, according to estimates by Ipiff, the association that groups together companies in the sector, investments of at least three billion euros.
The faculty of agriculture has a pilot plant in Carmagnola where an experimental project is being worked on to transform fly larvae into sustainable and innovative feed. A few kilometers away, in Scalenghe, Ivan Albano, CEO of Italian Cricket farm, specialized in the breeding of insects for the feeding of domestic animals (pet), breeding (feed) and for human use (food), presented the request to the ‘Efsa to be able to use cricket flour and dried crickets as table food. Fifteen other questions are on the table of the European Food Safety Agency. On that list are whole and ground grasshoppers, whole and ground mealworm larvae, honey bee larva.
The authorization establishes specific labeling requirements regarding allergenicity, given that EFSA has indicated that consumption of the insect can lead to reactions in subjects with pre-existing allergies to shellfish and dust mites. The EU 2020-30 action plan for sustainable food systems identifies insects as a source of low environmental impact proteins that can support the ‘green’ transition of production. Our pets will also benefit from the new food. In fact, kibble for dogs with fly larvae and feed for laying hens made with larvae meal could soon be marketed.
The formal decision by the European Commission – which is part of the “Farm to Fork” strategy – will be adopted in the coming weeks. With the horizon of a CAP strongly centered on sustainability, the rise on the market of protein foods with low environmental impact and a nutritional requirement estimated to grow by 70% by 2050 (source Fao), the sector of insects for food use is destined to carve out a significant role in the Food market, even if the issue is rather divisive. The agricultural world has different points of view. Coldiretti points out that the majority of Italians (54%) consider insects to be foreign to the national food culture and raises specific health and health questions “to which it is necessary to give answers”. According to the agricultural organization led by Enrico Prandini “beyond the normal opposition of Italians to products very far from our culture, the arrival on the tables of insects raises specific health and health questions to which it is necessary to give answers, making it clear on production methods and on the origin and traceability itself considering that most of the new products come from non-EU countries, such as China or Thailand, for years at the top of the rankings for the number of food alarms ». The Italian CIA-farmers think differently: “It is an entrepreneurial opportunity, especially for the use of insect flours, even if the defense of the traditional productions that characterize our made in Italy and the Mediterranean diet remains firm” .
On the other hand, the world of the Made in Italy agri-food industry is clearly opposed. For Luigi Scordamaglia of Filiera Italia, the first EU green light for the insect for food use represents “another paradox of an overly ideological approach to Farm to Fork”. The managing director of Filiera Italia disputes how, on the one hand, it is pushing “towards a questioning of the production of our extraordinary food excellences, produced according to a model of sustainability that is unique in the world“. On the other hand, “ethnic, alternative and instrumentally proposed foods as more sustainable to cover the growing demand for noble proteins” should be promoted. And for Ivano Vacondio, president of Federalimentare “orienting the use of noble proteins in insects, crickets, it may work in some countries but not in Italy, it makes me smile, I find it a provocation. We have our noble proteins and they are milk and meat, just don’t abuse them ».
And while in the US insects have been eaten for years and have famous testimonials in Italy the great chefs are divided. “I have no foreclosure, indeed in my opinion, insects are in quotation marks a sustainable source for the future”, explains Massimo Viglietti. From his point of view it is “more a mental fact than anything else. The important thing is to be free of your mind, not to campaign for something that you don’t like from an aesthetic point of view. In short, the idea does not find me guilty, on the contrary it finds me very intrigued by a different food ».
Antonello Colonna thinks differently: «In order not to give bigoted opinions and to point out the I’s, it is not up to me to give opinions on the evolution of certain products that could be used. I hope that science can make progress and the pasta industry can defend our traditions. Although I see it all very uncertain. However, I hope it does not damage our product. Ultimately I hope that this novel food is not successful, but that the research is successful. In short, my claim is in favor of legume flour not to that of larvae ».
For Giuseppe di Iorio «insects are not part of our culture and our DNA. As for my philosophy, if I see an insect in the kitchen, I immediately call disinfestation ». Chef Andrea Pasqualucci is also contrary: «It is not in our tradition and it is not in our culture. Probably, until it is imposed, they will not enter the kitchens ».