Edible food-grade crickets to stay on British shelves after industry body secures Parliament approval

29 Feb 2024 --- Consumers across Great Britain will continue to have access to F&B products enriched with food-grade edible insects — namely, Acheta domesticus (house cricket), Tenebrio molitor (mealworm) and Gryllodes sigillatus (banded cricket) — which are increasingly seen as a viable source of nutrition, with a lower cost of production and environmental footprint than animal-derived products.

Following Brexit and the adoption of the European Novel Food Regulations into UK law, the UK Edible Insect Association (UKEIA) maintains it has effectively demonstrated the “importance of the edible insect sector” to the UK food industry through its work with the country’s Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The association persuaded the FSA to secure Parliament approval for a Transitional Arrangement that allows the trading of edible insect products. This ran until the end of 2023, but could be extended for the edible insect species for which Novel Food approval dossiers had been received before that deadline.

UKEIA members, in partnership with the Belgian Insect Industry Federation, commissioned Dr. Geoffrey Knott to finalize and submit two dossiers on house crickets and mealworms that was greenlit by the FSA.

“It’s a pleasure to work with UKEIA — its pioneering members and start-ups — to support the survival of our emerging insect sector and give it a chance to grow to become a positive contributor to our food system,” comments Dr. Knott.

“Although it’s been an uncertain few years, there are two positive outcomes that give me cause for optimism: firstly, the UK sector is very supportive, and secondly, the UK Food Standards Agency are actively reviewing the Retained EU Novel Food Regs to make them fit for purpose (agile and pro-innovation).”

In addition to the provisions for house crickets and mealworms, UKEIA member Monkfield Nutrition funded the preparation and submission of a dossier for banded crickets.

There are over 1,800 species of edible insects globally.Desert locust for dessert?
Without these actions, it would now be illegal to sell products containing these three insects within the British market.

A further Traditional Food Notification for Schistocerca gregaria (desert locust) was submitted by Bugvita but technical issues with the submission resulted in the deadline being missed.

UKEIA has also researched and submitted a Policy White Paper to “set out the case for a more proportionate regulatory basis” for the sale of edible insect products in Great Britain. It expects the FSA to announce the results of its Review of Regulatory products during 2024.

“We’re glad to hear that these applications have been submitted and enabled us to continue to trade (we opened our new restaurant offering insect-based dishes last week),” says Aaron Thomas, chair of the UKEIA Board.

“We hope that they can pass through assessment quickly and without further hold-up. Since our early discussions with the FSA about these issues back in 2021, we’ve come an extremely long way. We couldn’t have done it without the continued support of our hard working members and board, who have gone above and beyond to push this through.”

Shrinking down footprint
Given the “much smaller footprint” of insect farming in land, resource and greenhouse gas terms, UKEIA believes the burgeoning sector could have a “significant place” in the UK’s future Food Strategy tying into net-zero ambitions.

There are over 1,800 species of edible insects globally, and many have “provided valuable nutrition for centuries” across many countries, it highlights.

This latest win for the sector comes after the UKEIA released a statement in December warning about European Novel Food regulations imposing an “extremely high barrier to entry” for edible insect companies.

By Benjamin Ferrer