​A researcher from the Grigore Antipa Museum in Bucharest and an entrepreneur from HORECA explain to HotNews.ro what the reality is about domestic crickets, which the European Commission approved for consumption at the beginning of the year, but which the Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, urges us not to eat.

The Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, proved once again that his statements, made as a high-ranking person of the Romanian state, should be taken with great reservations. And this is because it is very possible to mislead us. Or, even worse, feed the conspiracy theorists.

The Minister of Agriculture recently urged Romanians not to eat crickets, as these insects are among the last to be approved for human consumption by the European Commission.

“I don’t eat cricket food, what are you doing with crickets? Let them sing where they are. We eat what we have to eat. We eat sausages, we eat sausages, we eat chicken eggs. Do not replace chicken eggs with any worms now. There is no point in making such an effort,” Petre Daea said.

The minister’s claims relate to the approval by the European Commission (actually the European Food Safety Authority) of the domestic cricket or “acheta domesticus” for human consumption.

This has been happening since February, so the news is not new, and it should also be noted that the approval was made at the request of the company, which announced its intention to sell crickets in “powder or dry” form to the European market for use “as snacks or as ingredients in a range food products”.

It should also be said that crickets are not the only “exotics” allowed by the EU: there are also mealworms, grasshoppers, etc.

You can only eat crickets raised on farms, not caught in the field

Dutch Cricket Farm. PHOTO: Facebook

To learn more about these insects, I spoke with Elena Iulia Iorgu, a researcher, entomologist specializing in the study of odontans and orthoptera at the molecular biology department of the Grigor Antipa National Museum of Natural History in Bucharest.

She tells us that this food source is indeed very nutritious and the approval process was complicated:

“The house cricket, Acheta domesticus, was approved for consumption as an innovative feed (“novel feed”) by the European Commission on 22 February 2022. Each innovative feed goes through a complete evaluation process before being approved for consumption.

After a manufacturer submits an application for submitting an innovative food for consumption to the European Commission, it is checked, approved and notified to all member countries.

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) must provide a scientific assessment of food safety within nine months of the application.

Based on this assessment, registration permission is granted or not. The scientific evaluation of insects proposed as innovative food products covers aspects of potential allergens and environmental risks, as well as chemical and biological hazards related to external factors, such as the methods used for their production, the substrates on which they are grown , and life stage. on which they are collected.

EFSA concluded that as long as insects are fed with currently approved feed, the potential occurrence of such hazards (allergens, toxicity, etc.) is expected to be similar to other protein sources currently used (various animal farms).

This means that insects can only be safely grown on substrates of plant origin or on specially approved materials of animal origin, preventing the possibility of using substrates containing manure and other waste.

It is allowed to consume domestic crickets in dry, frozen or flour form. They can be added to various processed products in well-defined quantities (for example, bread can be added up to 10 g of cricket flour/dried crickets per 100 g of product).

In general, it was found that depending on the material used to feed crickets on farms, the amount of protein varies, but cricket meal is an important source of protein and essential amino acids, with a content of 50% to 70% and a fat content of about 20%. .

It is also a good source of minerals such as copper, selenium, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins such as riboflavin and folic acid,” Olena Yulia Yorgu tells us.

• Read also: What experts say about the wandering locust, which the European Commission has just allowed to be eaten: it comes from farms and is better eaten by mujdei

The expert explains that the domestic crickets proposed as an innovative food for consumption will not be collected from the field, but will come from authorized farms and will be grown on an approved plant substrate. Those caught directly from the wild are not permitted for consumption and are not recommended for consumption.

In addition, she also tells us that cricket meal is already food for other animals, used as a protein supplement in fish feed or even for chickens and pigs.

With global warming we all feel more and more, eating crickets instead of meat or eggs is really worth the effort.

“Another positive aspect is that cricket farms have a lower carbon footprint, generating little wastewater and low carbon emissions. Grown on plant waste, crickets can convert 60% of biomass into oils and fats (used for biodiesel), protein for food, animal feed, and new products such as chitosan,” Elena Yulia Yorgu tells us.

However, it will take some time before Romanians can replace meat or eggs with insects, even if they introduce even more quality protein into their diet. The messages of people like Petre Daea contribute to this to a large extent.

Dehydrated insects served as snacks in Bucharest bars and protein bars in stores

Insect protein bars. PHOTO: AP/Profimedia

Edible insects existed in supermarkets in Romania in the past, and the Microdelices brand had products on the shelves of one of the supermarket chains in Romania.

In addition, products such as protein-rich cricket flour are currently available on Romanian sports nutrition websites.

Dehydrated insects were served as snacks even in one of the cocktail bars in Bucharest. Adrian Kereanu, a partner at Exquisite Bar Solutions, tells us that at one point they had “some fried/dried grasshoppers” as appetizers at the Flair Angel bar.

“We had them left over from a workshop that a guy did in London and we didn’t use them as drink garnishes because people don’t do that kind of thing here, but in bars in Europe they’re offered as appetizers. We told them about them, and if they wanted, we gave them a taste,” says Adrian.

I also ask Olena Yulia Yorga if she has tried or would try to include crickets in her diet.

“Out of curiosity, I tried cricket flour protein bars. They were cocoa flavored and I have to admit I didn’t notice any difference from a regular protein bar. However, consumers decide whether they want to eat insects or not.

The use of insects as an alternative source of protein is not new, and insects are regularly consumed in many parts of the world. A recent study made a synthesis and showed that about 2000 species of insects are consumed as food in more than 100 countries of the world!

They represent an alternative source of animal protein against the backdrop of a sharp increase in the Earth’s population and an implicit increase in the demand for meat/animal protein in the diet.”

She also tells us that there are other insects that the European Commission will soon recognize as edible.

“I’ve read that consumer permits have also been filed for other insects, such as the honey bee, another species of cricket, and several species of dipterans and dung beetles.”

We end with some interesting facts about crickets, which were also revealed by Olena Yulia Yorgu.

“The house cricket, or by its scientific name Acheta domestica, is an insect that belongs to the Orthoptera order, which also includes grasshoppers, weevils and grasshoppers. These insects are famous for their songs. Who has not heard the sweet chirping of field crickets, relatives of the domestic cricket, in late spring.

Crickets emit this song by rhythmically rubbing their front wings against each other. This rhythmic rubbing is scientifically called stridulation, and it is also present in other groups of insects (such as tailor beetles, cicadas), as well as in spiders, snakes or fish.

The stridulation of crickets is unique to the species. This is generally performed only by males and is used to attract and court a mate or to compete with other males. The house cricket is an insect originally from Asia, which spread to Europe with the migration of peoples.

In Europe, the species is synanthropic, lives only in human dwellings. In the XX century, it was intensively used as food for domestic animals, such as snakes or amphibians. It is an omnivorous species that feeds on a variety of food from plants (flowers, seeds, fruits, vegetables) to products of animal origin.

House crickets are kept as pets in Asian countries such as China and Japan, where they are believed to bring good luck.”

• Read also: The European Food Authority has given permission for the consumption of insects. What are mealworms, the first EU approved insect feed