Why we still do not eat insects: legal framework in the European Union

Authors

  • Marina Pino Cebrián Graduada en Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos por la Universidad de Barcelona (UB); Máster en Alimentación, Ética y Derecho (UB).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/rbd2018.1.20375

Keywords:

European legislation, edible insects, entomophagy, food safety, unfamiliar food, novel food

Abstract

Insects are considered unusual food in Europe whereas in other regions of the world are very common. Its consumption is non-existent due mainly to the cultural aversion towards them and the lack of regulations. To clarify what the legal status of insects is, two different situations in selling fried crickets are presented inside a case study: selling in October 2017 and in January 2025. Analysing the first situation it turns out that its merchandising is non-viable due to the legal vacuum in the European and Spanish regulations, whereas in 2025, fried crickets will be considered as a novel food. Despite all, more efforts are needed in order to create other regulations that focus into the expected quality and food safety.

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Published

2018-02-19

How to Cite

Pino Cebrián, M. (2018). Why we still do not eat insects: legal framework in the European Union. Revista De Bioética Y Derecho, (42), 311–341. https://doi.org/10.1344/rbd2018.1.20375

Issue

2018: Núm. 42 - mar - Dossier on food, ethics and law, coordinated by M.J. Plana

Section

From the master

License

Licencia de Creative CommonsThe author retains the copyright and grants Revista de Bioética y Derecho the right of first publication of the article. All articles published in Revista de Bioética y Derecho are under Creative Commons licensing Recognition – Non Commercial – NoDerivedArtwork (by-nc-nd 4.0), which allows sharing the content with third parties, provided that they acknowledge its authorship, initial publication in this journal and the terms of the license. No commercial use of the original work or generation of derivative works is permitted.