Mealworm plant backed by Robert Downey Jr is sanctioned to produce energy bars and drinks for human consumption.
Mealworm plant backed by Robert Downey Jr is sanctioned to produce energy bars and drinks for human consumption.
Do you have appetite for mealworms? Here is a company that provides food, energy drinks and protein bars made from bugs.
The insect farming company backed by Robert Downey Jr is about to enter the market to produce such food and drinks for human consumption using its mealworm bugs after being approved by the European Union.
The mealworm beetle’s larvae are mealworms. Dried yellow mealworm has been given go-ahead and would initially be used as protein supplements for sports persons.
Ynsect, the “world leader in the natural production of insect protein” that recently raised USD 435 million from investors, sent Real Press a statement saying that they have been approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which allows Ynsect to “formalize its entry into the human food market.”
They are now planning to file a similar authorization request with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, with a focus on the market for food for athletes.
For starters, they plan to use the ground up Molitor powder to make products for athletes, Ynsect public relations officer Laurene Hug told Real Press.
“It will first be in protein energy bars or drinks intended for athletes, for example,” She said.
“The green light from the European Food Safety Authority is a major step forward for the sector, particularly in Europe. It should pave the way for other opinions, in particular on the consumption of deoiled insect meal, which represents the most promising market for human consumption, particularly in sports nutrition and health,” stated the release issued by the company in Paris on January 13.
“Ÿnsect has already identified the potential of this market by developing ŸnMeal, an ingredient made from deoiled insect protein suitable for human consumption.
“Ÿnsect has, for this purpose, submitted its Novel Food dossier on these products to the EFSA (without request for confidentiality and therefore without 5 years of data protection, in order to benefit the entire European sector) which shows, in particular, a much lower allergen profile than for a whole insect,” said the press statement.
Allergen profile is an allergy test. “Immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a class of antibody (immune protein) associated with allergic reactions. It is normally found in very small amounts in the blood. This test measures the amount of allergen-specific IgE in the blood in order to detect an allergy to a particular substance” says labtestsonline.org.
“Ÿnsect will also file in a few months a GRAS file with the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) in the United States to address the world’s leading sports and health nutrition market,” said the firm statement
“This Wednesday the European Food Safety Authority published a positive opinion on the use of mealworm for human consumption following the work carried out by the human food group of the international platform of insects for food and feed (IPIFF) and its members.
“The Agency highlights that it is sanitary safe, in accordance with the requirements and the in-depth assessment procedures defined by the European Union (EU) legislation on novel foods (Regulation (EU) 2015/2283). This opinion must then be confirmed by the Directorate General for Health of the European Commission, which will give the marketing authorization in the member states of the European Union.
“The mealworm, otherwise known as the Molitor beetle, therefore becomes the first insect to receive a positive opinion for human consumption. It is a victory and a key step for the growth of the insect industry, but also and above all for the producers of mealworms. This review shows that the ingredients from Molitor beetles are premium and suitable for human consumption, unlike other insect species used only for animal feed.”
The company describes itself as “the world leader in the natural production of insect protein and fertilizer.”
It was founded in 2011 in Paris “by scientists and environmental activists”, and “transforms insects into premium ingredients with high added value for pet food, fish farming and plant nutrition.”
Ÿnsect says that it “offers an ecological, healthy and sustainable solution to meet the growing global demand for protein and plant consumption” and is “protected by 260 patents” which enables it to “raise Molitor beetles on vertical farms with a negative carbon footprint.”
“The first production unit in Dole (Jura) in France has been in operation since 2016. Ÿnsect is currently building a second unit, the largest vertical farm in the world, in Amiens (Somme). The company, which employs 150 people, has raised approximately USD 435 million from recognised global investors and exports its products worldwide,” said the statement.
There is a school of thought led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is of the view that the world population would increase to nine billion by 2050. Nations around the world will have to find out new and innovative methods to feed these growing billions. Edible insects offer a good alternative. “They are extremely rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals, and at the same time are highly efficient in converting the food they eat into material that can be consumed by humans” says the world body. Thailand is the world leader in insect farming, processing and marketing.
However, there are some people who are opposed to this idea of eating insects. Brian Tomasik of reducing-suffering.org says, “it… is not necessarily more humane than factory farming of livestock all things considered, and along some dimensions it’s actually worse, because it involves killing vastly more animals per unit of protein.”
(Edited by Shirish Vishnu Shinde and Megha Virendra Choudhary)
