The world entered its new year loaded with extended preoccupations from previous years. The specter of the Corona virus is still present, even if it seems to have moved away for a while, and the Russian-Ukrainian war does not seem to have an end, and its repercussions on politics and the economy do not stop, but that was not all.
Man, who has been busy since the beginning of creation with food and searching for it, has been preoccupied throughout the year 2022 with the grain crisis that resulted from the war, given that the two warring parties, Russia and Ukraine, are among the largest producers and exporters of grain in the world.
And 2023 came to bring another controversy and illusion related to food, but not with grains this time, but with insects and the possibility of using them in food, which was not new, but a decision of the European Union brought it back to the fore again.
Days before the end of January, new laws entered into force in the European Union, opening the door to the possibility of converting more types of insects into food, such as domestic cockroaches, and from caterpillars that include wheat worms, as well as migratory locusts.
The consumer decides
The new European laws allow, for example, to freeze cockroaches, dry them and use them as a powder in food, so that they can be added to bread, biscuits, crackers, pasta, sauces, and others.
However, it is important to note that the matter so far falls within the scope of what is possible and permissible, and not necessarily existing.
The European Commission clearly states that "it is the consumer who will decide whether or not they want to eat insects".
And the German News Agency (dpa) indicates that this differs from one country to another. In Germany, for example, you can only get a few products that contain small amounts of insects, such as energy bars or noodles, while “mixing insect powder with biscuits or flour It still has a long way to go.” And food containing insects still represents “a very small market,” according to Armin Valet, a food chemist, according to dpa.
Numerous studies talked about the nutritional benefits of some insects (Shutterstock)
Qatar bans
Of course, this news had a special impact on the Arab and Islamic countries, and Qatar was the most prominent country that issued an official position confirming the prohibition of the use of insect products in foodstuffs.
And the Ministry of Health says - in a statement - that insect products do not meet "the requirements of the technical regulations for halal food," adding, "The regulations of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the religious opinion of the competent authorities prohibit eating insects or proteins and supplements extracted from them."
Qatar said its move followed "the decision of some countries to approve the use of insects in food production".
The statement did not mention the names of countries, but the announcement came a week after the European Union Commission approved the use of small mealworm larvae and domestic crickets in food, noting that the European Union had approved the use of other types of insects during the past two years, but it required clear labeling on all Products containing insects.
Why does the world think of eating insects?
The matter is related to the scarcity of food, as well as the nutritional value that some insects contain, as studies conducted by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicated that some insects have a high nutritional value, as they contain amounts of fat, protein, vitamins, fiber and minerals.
Insects contain a protein similar to that found in animal meat and turkey, although there is a discrepancy according to the type of insects, according to what the "dpa" agency reports on the German Consumers Union.
Eating insects is more sustainable than meat and chicken, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Compared to meat, insect production requires less farmland, or about half, than chicken.
Crickets need about one-twelfth the volume of food needed by cattle to produce the same amount of protein, according to the FAO.
Not only that, but raising insects results in less emissions.
In addition, the edible percentage of insects is 80%, which is much higher than that of livestock, which is estimated at only 40%.
Several months ago, the FAO published on its official website
a topic
entitled "Get ready to accept the idea of edible insects," in which it talked about 4 reasons that it considers justify eating edible insects and opens up good prospects for food security and livelihoods:
It is nutritious
Environmentally sustainable
It provides economic opportunities
constitute an underutilized resource.
The organization presented its topic by referring to the presence of hundreds of edible insects all over the world, and gave an example in Thailand, where eating some insects such as worms and cockroaches is widespread, adding that the matter is repeated in different continents.
In Asia, the red palm weevil is one of the most popular edible insects and an expensive delicacy, and in Africa some Congolese eat the caterpillars during the rainy months.
In Europe and North America - adds the FAO - an increasing number of places have started offering these protein-rich products.
While the European Union is also taking steps to certify insects as a food source by defining safety regulations that allow them to be sold for human consumption.
It is interesting that a study published last year, and referred to by Al Jazeera Net, had considered that edible insects are still far from being an essential part of the prevailing diets in Western countries, because what we consider good to eat is a matter that we learn culturally and "the cultural knowledge that we often receive from Insects from childhood are pests and vectors of disease.
The author of the study points out that despite the Western aversion to eating insects, "there is a long history of eating insects in the tropics, because insects are often larger, more available and nutritious compared to cooler or more temperate regions, which makes them a better source of food."
It is worth noting that the European laws that were issued at the beginning of this year were the result of steps that paved the way for them, and the largest of them was in January 2021 when the European Food Safety Authority gave the green light to consume foods derived from a type of beetle, as it considered that the larvae of the “mealworm” are safe for consumption. Either as a whole dried insect or as a powder.
past and future
A few years ago, Lars Henrik Le Heckmann - one of the experts in this field - gave a lecture in which he described insects as "food of the past and the future", considering that eating them, although it is a civilizational shock, the economic and environmental benefits that result from this choice "may make us change our mind."
Hickman considers that from a biological perspective, all food is similar, but the matter differs from a cultural perspective that changes from time to time, citing an example in Europe, where eating insects was part of its food culture in the past, as happened in the Roman era and the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Regardless of whether the world will continue its trend towards eating insects or not, and it seems that it will continue, some people wonder about the method if this happens, and will some people turn to a profession of hunting insects in order to turn them into food?
The answer is no, of course, by experts quoted by "dpa", explaining that insects will be raised specifically for this purpose, although the matter still needs further clarification, as many countries lack rules governing how to preserve insects, according to the agency.
And Al-Jazeera Net had previously published, in February 2019, a presentation of an article in the French newspaper Le Monde, which indicated that experts working at the Research Institute of Insect Biology in Tours are developing insect breeding, based on what the FAO sees as the cultivation of insects will have an environmental contribution to food security, in Facing population growth, increasing demand for animal products, and decreasing resources.
The article touched on the difficulty of many accepting the idea of eating insects, and considered that this acceptance will pass through some compositions where they cannot be recognized in food, such as flour, for example, as is the case in Switzerland, where the “Esanto” company has been selling since 2017 made steaks. of flour, rice and vegetable worms in 60 stores and restaurants.