Poll of the Day > European Union allowing crickets in food

(+) Yeah! (+)

Geez is it coming to this now. I'll assume that fast food places that serve cricket will begin popping up.

https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/e-u-allows-house-crickets-in-food-products/115821

Insects as protein source has been up and coming for a long while now.

There goes the only redeeming factor of the EU, their excellent food standards.

Ingredients have to be declared on packaging anyway. You could always just read the labels to make sure.

Hoppy800 posted...

There goes the only redeeming factor of the EU, their excellent food standards.

They're not lowering their standards and allowing crickets to jump into pots and plates.

The US has allowed "insect parts" in food for years

The US has no room to talk about food standards.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Ingredients have to be declared on packaging anyway. You could always just read the labels to make sure.

Yeah, cause food product providers are well known for not being cagey and inscrutable with their labeling and lists of ingredients.
People in the comments were saying they'd use the scientific names instead of "mealworm larvae", but I think they'll go one better and invent new names for the stuff that looks innocuous. Technically buried somewhere on some website it'll say what X is, so they're meeting the requirement of the law.
Also love how they take effect almost immediately. Most laws take a while to go into effect. It's amazing the government that money can buy!

Supaitwo posted...

The US has no room to talk about food standards.

While true, allowing some insect parts per million that accidentally ended up in the vats is still a far cry from intentionally adding them as a major ingredient.
Side note: if a bread boasts being higher in protein than competitors, ask yourself
where that protein came from

streamofthesky posted...

Side note: if a bread boasts being higher in protein than competitors, ask yourself
where that protein came from

If you can't tell, does it matter?

You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket

streamofthesky posted...

Yeah, cause food product providers are well known for not being cagey and inscrutable with their labeling and lists of ingredients.
People in the comments were saying they'd use the scientific names instead of "mealworm larvae", but I think they'll go one better and invent new names for the stuff that looks innocuous. Technically buried somewhere on some website it'll say what X is, so they're meeting the requirement of the law.

I do not think that is allowed for products of animal origin.

We're one step closer to Snowpiercer.

You will eat the bugs, you will live in the pod, you will own nothing, and you will be happy.

but but Alex Jones told me their exoskeleton is cancerous!!!

So?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/04/health/insect-rodent-filth-in-food-wellness/index.html

as someone who finds the thought abhorrent

if its disclosed who gives a shit? maybe just focus on legislating being more open with ingredients?

You guys know that there are already bugs in all kinds of foods, right?

Carmine, crimson lake, natural red 4, and E120 are all made with a type of insect called the cochineal scale. It's used to color yogurt, candy, gelatin, and beverages. It's also used in cosmetics and medicines.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/5/2/AAQwHjAAELsE.jpg

Shellac is also made from an insect called the lac bug. Shellac is used as a hard coating for candies and medicines, where it's usually listed as pharmaceutical glaze, confectioner's glaze, or E904. It's also used as the "wax" coating on apples.

i dont think i consume any of those things so im fine

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Insects as protein source has been up and coming for a long while now.

this

plus there's many cultures that eat insects

fried grasshoppers in Mexico are great

agesboy posted...

as someone who finds the thought abhorrent

if its disclosed who gives a shit? maybe just focus on legislating being more open with ingredients?

I mean yeah you can read the ingredients to see if something has bugs in it to avoid buying them, but what happens when more and more things get them so you cannot avoid buying things with them?, That's likely what they're going for, do it slowly at a time so when it reaches that point, they can be like "Well you didn't complain X amount of months/years ago why complain now?, Eat the bugs peasant!".

Let's not ignore that there are gonna be things in those bugs people will have allergic reactions to, let alone anything in those bugs us humans aren't built to be able to fully digest compared to certain animals, but the rich "Nobles" don't care if it harms us peasants, if it does all the better for them!, population control!.

Lokarin posted...

The US has allowed "insect parts" in food for years

There's a big difference between the concepts of "tolerance" and "ingredients".

Bird_Man_Yu posted...

I mean yeah you can read the ingredients to see if something has bugs in it to avoid buying them, but what happens when more and more things get them so you cannot avoid buying things with them?, That's likely what they're going for, do it slowly at a time so when it reaches that point, they can be like "Well you didn't complain X amount of months/years ago why complain now?, Eat the bugs peasant!".

What other ingredients has that happened with?

Bird_Man_Yu posted...

Let's not ignore that there are gonna be things in those bugs people will have allergic reactions to, let alone anything in those bugs us humans aren't built to be able to fully digest compared to certain animals

That's exactly why you have regulatory agencies reviewing them to determine whether or not they're safe to include in food. Bugs that trigger allergic reactions in significant numbers of people likely won't be ever allowed (i.e. you aren't going to see wasp flour any time soon). Bugs that can't be safely digested also won't. Those that are allowed are allowed because research into their safety has shown them to be safe for consumption (to say nothing of the dozens of cultures worldwide that have been eating these things without issue for longer than "Europe" has even been a recognized concept). This isn't a matter of some mustache-twirling executive saying "Eeeheehee feed them ALL the bugs!", this is a matter of prospective producers petitioning the regulatory agency to allow them to offer a protein source that's more economical and less environmentally damaging than meat.

Of course, there's also the point that half the ingredients out there already can't be properly digested by humans. The entire concept of hydrogenation produces fats that we can't break down properly, and that stuff's in everything. We've spent centuries breeding wheat into a form with an absolutely terrible glycemic index, robbing it of a lot of the nutritional benefit that made it worth cultivating in the first place. There are thousands upon thousands of food additives that are only considered safe because people *probably* won't eat enough of them to cause problems. Why fixate on the possibility that some bugs - most of which countless people already eat with no issues - might not be perfectly healthy?

Shrimp are pretty much ocean bugs and people don't have a problem with those.

If prepared correctly and from a clean source, I'd eat a cricket. Bugs are pretty similar to marine arthropods like shrimp, at least that's what I've heard. Plus scorpion just looks like a crab and I'd be open to trying one.

I had a dried cricket, it tasted like a lemon sunflower seed

I remember reading about this online years ago. People were working to get this done So, I guess its fine

We love Cricket here in the UK.

GanonsSpirit posted...

Shrimp are pretty much ocean bugs and people don't have a problem with those.

In terms of he actual evolutionary timeline, it'd technically be more accurate to call bugs "land crustraceans," but yeah. A lot of people don't like shrimp/crab/lobster because of how similar they are to bugs, but ultimately, the idea of eating arthropods is nothing particularly new.

GanonsSpirit posted...

Shrimp are pretty much ocean bugs and people don't have a problem with those.

Couldn't even bother w/ 10 seconds of googling before you posted?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shellfish-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20377503

streamofthesky posted...

Couldn't even bother w/ 10 seconds of googling before you posted?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shellfish-allergy/symptoms-causes/syc-20377503

Why do you think he was talking about allergies?

Jen0125 posted...

Why do you think he was talking about allergies?

Because plenty of people do in fact have a problem w/ shrimp?

streamofthesky posted...

Because plenty of people do in fact have a problem w/ shrimp?

But they aren't talking about allergies. They're talking about eating bugs and how people have an issue with that. What a dumb fuckin post lmao

Are they also allowing humans in cricket food? Seems only fair

adjl posted...

What other ingredients has that happened with?

Alternative sweeteners that are not sugar. Or at the very least, the progress is currently going on.

Thanks Jen, glad I didn't have to explain it myself.

MrMelodramatic posted...

Are they also allowing humans in cricket food? Seems only fair

I mean if a cricket is able to eat a person I say good for them

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Insects as protein source has been up and coming for a long while now.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

Insects as protein source has been up and coming for a long while now.

No idea it's new to me but I think I'll pass.