This week, a new food additive made from bugs began appearing in foods from pizza to pasta to cereals across the European Union, to the surprise of many Europeans.
According to the European Commission ruling that went into effect this month, a cricket powder additive is now approved for use in a wide range of food products, including cereal bars, biscuits, pizza, pasta-based products, and whey powder. The additive could find its way into a variety of confectionaries, soups, and meat preparations.
In order to prepare the crickets for human consumption, they are first checked to make sure their “bowel content” is removed, then frozen.
Though many have suggested that the consumption of bugs could become normalized if used as a food additive, some argue that this could be a way for climate change activists to impose their ideologies on people.
The move to include the powdered additive could be used to convince people that bugs have already been in their food, as the European Union recently approved the use of the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus, for human consumption.