Mealworms are safe for human consumption according to a new opinion by the EU Food Safety Agency (EFSA), paving the way for the first EU-wide approval.
The opinion, which was published Wednesday (13 January), is EFSA’s first risk assessment of an insect food product application and specifically concerns the safety of the dried yellow mealworm as a novel food, either as a whole dried insect or in the form of powder.
It comes after an application was submitted by the French company EAP Group Agronutris back in 2018.
While insect-based foods have so far been a niche product, they are viewed as a promising solution to the sustainability challenges facing the food industry, offering a sustainable source of protein that can be grown on minimal resources.