| UPDATED: 18:36, Thu, Jan 14, 2021
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Eurocrats have ordered capitals to clamp down on people bringing meat and dairy products across the border after the introduction of the new post-Brexit trading bloc. But as customs officials are confiscating people’s pack lunches, the European Food Safety Authority has announced mealworms are safe for human consumption. The European Commission said: “From January 1, 2021, it is prohibited to introduce certain products of animal origin such as meat and milk (including, for example, ham and cheese), into the EU from GB.
(Adds dropped word ‘way’ in first paragraph)
LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Mealworms may soon find their way into Europe’s pasta bowls and dinner dishes, after becoming the first insect approved in the region as a human food.
Wednesday’s decision by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) paves the way for the yellow grubs to be used whole and dried in curries and other recipes and as a flour to make biscuits, pasta and bread.
Despite their name, mealworms are beetle larvae rather than worms and are already used in Europe as a pet food ingredient.
Rich in protein, fat and fibre, they are likely to be the first of many insects to feature on European’s plates in the coming years, EFSA chemist and food scientist Ermolaos Ververis told Reuters.
Yellow mealworm finger foods, smoothies, biscuits, pasta and burgers could soon be mass produced across Europe after the insect became the first to be found safe for human consumption by the EU food safety agency. The delicacies may not be advisable for everyone, however. Those with prawn and dustmite allergies are likely to suffer a reaction to the Tenebrio molitor larva, whether it is eaten in powder form as part of a recipe or served as a.