Edible insect

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whole, prepared insects on a street food market in Germany

Food insects are suitable (edible) or food-approved insects for human consumption .

The consumption of insects is referred to as entomophagy , while food insects and their cultural background are about entomophagy in humans .

Edible insect species

Scientists at Wageningen University currently list 2,111 edible insect species in a list of edible insect species.

Around 80 percent of the insect species consumed by humans worldwide belong to the beetles (Coleoptera), hymenoptera (Hymenoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera) or butterflies (Lepidoptera).

Insect species approved as food

Switzerland

On May 1, 2017, with the revision of the Food Ordinance, the following insect species were approved as food in Switzerland:

Under certain conditions, these can be given to consumers as whole animals, shredded or ground.

Nutritional value

Dried mealworms and buffalo worms

Insects consist largely of proteins with all the essential amino acids and contain fiber in the form of the polysaccharide chitin . They are low in carbohydrates and few species have extensive fat bodies .

The mean energy content ( dry matter ) of insects is 1926  kJ per 100 g (460  kcal per 100 g). The energy value, based on the fresh mass, is thus comparable to that of meat (from mammals and birds). The fat content of food insects is on average between 13 and 33 percent, based on dry matter. Edible insects can be used as a source of protein just like other animal foods from mammals, birds or edible fish . It therefore stands to reason that the FAO recommends them as a high quality food source. The average protein content of edible insects is between 35 and 61 percent, based on dry matter. Some representatives of grasshoppers, grasshoppers and crickets can contain up to 77 percent protein.

The following table provides a comparison of the nutritional values ​​of insects permitted in individual European countries and used in processed products:

Nutritional value
per 100 g		 Mealworms
( Tenebrio molitor ) in the larval stage		 Buffalo worms
( Alphitobius diaperinus )		 Crickets
( Acheta domesticus )		 Migratory locusts
( Locusta migratoria )
Calorific value 550 kcal / 2303 KJ 484 kcal / 2027 KJ 458 kcal / 1918 KJ 559 kcal / 2341 KJ
Fat of
which saturated fatty acids		 37.2 g
9 g		 24.7 g
8 g		 18.5 g
7 g		 38.1 g
13.1 g
Carbohydrates
including sugar		 5.4 g
0 g		 6.7 g
0 g		 0 g
0 g		 1.1 g
0 g
protein 45.1 g 56.2 g 69.1 g 48.2 g
salt 0.37 g 0.38 g 1.03 g 0.43 g

Food insects, depending on the species, age and food, also contain micronutrients such as copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and zinc as well as the vitamins riboflavin, pantothenic acid and biotin. Certain beetles, grasshoppers and crickets also contain plenty of folic acid. Like other foods of animal origin, edible insects are a source of cobalamin .

Edible insect products

The following processed products are produced by various manufacturers in the EU and some are offered in the food retail trade in Germany:

  • Insect burger : Hamburger patties made from insect meal (usually worms or crickets) and other ingredients.
  • Insect bars: fitness or protein bars made from ground insects (mostly crickets).
  • Insect noodles : Pasta made from wheat flour enriched with insect meal (crickets or mealworms).
  • Insect bread (Finnish Sirkkaleipä ): Bread baked with insect flour (mostly grilling).

  • Insect burger made from mealworms

  • Fusilli made from cricket flour

  • Insect snacks ( bites ) made from cricket meal

  • Chips made from cricket flour

  • Insect bar with cricket flour

The first food products made from edible insects have been on the German market since 2018: In March 2018 , a subsidiary of Metro AG was the first German supermarket to offer pasta made from insects (mealworms). The first German retailer to offer a hamburger patty made from insects (buffalo worms) was the Rewe Group in April 2018. In July 2018, Bio Company added the first organic insect bar with insect meal made from organically certified crickets to its range.

Security and approval

Approval in the EU

For food insects and processed products made from them, the general food law regulations must be complied with and, before the first placing on the market, the food business operator must check whether it is a novel food within the meaning of the new novel food regulation that has been in force since January 1, 2018 (regulation on novel Food). This regulation covers food consisting of, isolated or produced from whole animals or parts thereof, provided that the food obtained from these animals has a history of use as safe food in the EU. According to the current opinion, an application for approval must then be submitted to the European Commission for insects and processed products made from or with insects. The positive list of approved novel foods (so-called “Union list”) does not yet contain any insects (as of August 2018). Eleven applications for insect species were responsible for the admission European Commission or the EFSA before in March 2020 including dossiers for European migratory locust ( Locusta migratoria ), crickets ( Acheta domesticus ), rove crickets ( Gryllodes sigillatus ), mealworms ( Tenebrio ), Buffalo worms ( Alphitobius diaperinus ), the larvae of the black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ), and the male larvae of the European honey bee ( Apis mellifera ).

Insect foods that are currently on the market may be (continued) placed on the market pending a decision on the application. The Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety advises that, if necessary, the responsible food control authorities of the federal states should be contacted prior to the first placing on the market.

Admission in Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) stipulates how insect species must be treated before being sold and under what conditions they can be marketed. Other insect species can only be marketed as food if they have been approved by the FSVO beforehand. For this purpose, an applicant must submit certain documents that, among other things, prove the safety of the insects for human consumption.

literature

  • Aaron T. Dossey, Juan Morales-Ramos, M. Guadalupe Rojas (Eds.): Insects as Sustainable Food Ingredients. Production, Processing and Food Applications. Academic Press, London 2016, ISBN 978-0-12-802856-8 (English).
  • Nils Th. Grabowski: Food insects . Behr's, Hamburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-95468-521-9 .
  • Arnold van Huis, Jeffery K. Tomberlin (eds.): Insects As Food and Feed. From production to consumption. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen 2017, ISBN 978-90-8686-296-2 (English).
  • Birgit A. Rumpold, Oliver K. Schlueter: Nutritional composition and safety aspects of edible insects . In: Molecular Nutrition & Food Research . tape 57 , no. 5 , May 2013, p. 802 , doi : 10.1002 / mnfr.201200735 , PMID 23471778 ( scribd.com ).
  • Florian J. Schweigert : Eating insects. Instructions for use for a food of the future. CH Beck, 2020, ISBN 978-3-406-75645-0 .

Web links

Commons : Food Insects  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wageningen University / Jongema (2017): Worldwide list of recorded edible insects (PDF).
  2. ↑ D. Raubenheimer, JM Rothman: Nutritional ecology of entomophagy in humans and other primates . In: Annual Review of Entomology . tape 58 , 2013, p. 141-160 , doi : 10.1146 / annurev-ento-120710-100713 .
  3. ^ Ordinance of the FDHA on novel foods. Swiss Confederation, December 16, 2016, accessed October 7, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Insects as food. FSVO , April 28, 2017, accessed January 5, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Locusts, mealworms, crickets: insects approved as food from 2016 . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . March 3, 2015 ( nzz.ch [accessed October 7, 2017]).
  6. ^ Sandra GF Bukkens: The nutritional value of edible insects. In: Ecology of Food and Nutrition 36, No. 2-4, 1997, pp. 287-319, doi: 10.1080 / 03670244.1997.9991521 .
  7. ↑ Entry on edible insects. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on 2015-05-09.
  8. ↑ a b c Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE) (2017): Insects - (K) an everyday food .
  9. ^ Arnold van Huis, Joost Van Itterbeeck, Harmke Klunder, Esther Mertens, Afton Halloran, Giulia Muir, Paul Vantomme: Edible insects: Future prospects for food and feed security. (PDF), FAO Forestry Paper 171, Rome 2013, accessed May 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ Anatol Schmidt, Lisa Call, Lukas Macheiner, Helmut K. Mayer: Determination of vitamin B12 in four edible insect species by immunoaffinity and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography . In: Food Chemistry . 2018. doi : 10.1016 / j.foodchem.2018.12.039 .
  11. ↑ Deutschlandfunk Kultur / Jürgen Stratmann (December 30, 2017): Insects as food - Fried maggots for dessert .
  12. ↑ a b c d Deutschlandfunk Kultur / Daniela Siebert (August 14, 2018): Crickets and worms as food - insect burgers made from beetle larvae .
  13. ↑ Handelsblatt (February 17, 2016): Grain mold beetle ? "Tastes like falafel" .
  14. ↑ Osnabrücker Zeitung (February 21, 2017): Company visit to the Bug Foundation .
  15. ↑ WORLD (August 30, 2018): This insect is a protein bar .
  16. ↑ a b Spiegel Online (March 2, 2018): Metro sells mealworm noodles .
  17. ↑ Hannoversche Allgemeine (November 23, 2017): Stulle mit Grille: Finns test insect bread .
  18. ↑ ZDF (December 29, 2017): Insect bread from Finland .
  19. ↑ Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (March 29, 2018): Worms instead of meat: Osnabrück insect burgers can now be bought in Germany .
  20. ↑ W&V (April 25, 2018): ' Rewe sells insect burgers '
  21. ↑ Organic supermarkets list “Instinct” insect bars from the Berlin startup Bearprotein. Insektenwirtschaft.de, accessed on August 15, 2018 .
  22. ↑ http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2015/2283/oj
  23. ↑ FAQ on Novel Food. BVL , accessed on January 8, 2018 .
  24. ↑ Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470 for the creation of the Union list of novel foods , accessed on January 5, 2018
  25. ↑ EU Commission: ons Summary of applications and notifications .
  26. ↑ European Commission: Summary of the dossier: Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) .
  27. ↑ European Commission: Summary of the dossier: Acheta domesticus for consumption as a food and as an ingredient in additional food groups .
  28. ↑ European Commission: Summary of the dossier: Dried crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus) .
  29. ↑ European Commission: Summary of the dossier: Tenebrio molitor for consumption as a food and as an ingredient in additional food groups .
  30. ↑ European Commission: Summary of the dossier: whole and grinded Alphitobius diaperinus larvae products .
  31. ↑ EU Commission: Summary of application: Hermetia meal
  32. ↑ EU Commission: Summary of application: Honey bee drone brood (Apis mellifera male pupae)
  33. ↑ Deutschlandfunk / Volker Mrasek (April 4, 2018): Insects as food: approaching the EU market .
  34. ↑ Novel Foods. BVL , accessed on August 15, 2018 .