Food products that contain insect species allowed as new food products will be presented in stores on separate stands, separated from classic products, near which there should be information panels, according to the draft order of the head of the State Consumer Service.

According to the draft order of the President of the ANPC, published on the institution’s website, the document establishes ways to inform consumers about information on food products that are/contain species of any insect authorized to be placed on the market as new food products, respectively, in yellow. mealworms, grasshoppers, house crickets and mealybug larvae, as well as any other insect species included in the new food list.

• “Food products that are/contain insect species permitted to be placed on the market as new food products will be presented in sales halls on a separate stand, separated from stands that contain established products that do not contain/do not contain insect species permitted to put on the market as new food products,” the project says.

At the same time, trade entities will be required to post in a prominent place, next to a separate stand, information that food products are/contain insect species.

Also, “the indication of information on finished products/food products provided by collective food establishments that are/contain insect species authorized for introduction on the market as novel food products is carried out in such a way that the information is available and accessible directly at the point of sale/offer of this/this product/food or, in the case of distance marketing, until the order is completed,” the document also states.

The draft order on the obligation of business entities to provide consumers with clear and complete information on food products containing any species of insects allowed to be placed on the market as new food products is subject to public discussion, proposals and comments can be sent between 15- February 27 at the address: [email protected]

Paul Angel, head of the Directorate General for Market Control and Surveillance and European Harmonization at the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), recently asked consumers in a Facebook post whether products containing protein derived from crickets, mealybug larvae, yellow mealworm and grasshoppers approved by the European Commission must be clearly labeled and sold only on specially designated shelves, writes News.ro.

In Hungary, the Ministry of Agriculture will amend food labeling regulations to provide the correct information to consumers, so that products containing insect proteins can be distinguished and separated on store shelves, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy announced, quoted by MTI.

“Leave the bugs in the bug box”

Dung beetle larvae are becoming food in the European Union, becoming the fourth insect approved for consumption by the European Commission in January.

The commission also allowed the following insects to be placed on the market as food:

• mealworm
• migratory locust
• house crickets

A total of four insects are currently authorized by the European Commission as food. Hungary was the only country that opposed this decision.

Agriculture Minister Petre Daea recently said he was not concerned that a new insect, namely the dung beetle larva, had been approved for consumption by the European Commission because “approval does not mean food”:

• “Keep them in the permits, but don’t put them in the food, don’t put them on the plate, because we know what we produce, we know what we eat, we know what’s good for us.
• From this point of view I am not worried, approval does not mean food either, because we know how to produce in Romania and we have, thank God, where, with whom and what to do (…).
• Leave the insects in the insect box.’