Aug 17 2011 --- The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking information from relevant groups on the sale and consumption of whole insects and other animals, such as worms, in the UK, including details of species that are currently on sale.

This follows a request by the EU Commission for all EU member states to identify insects introduced to the EU market after 15 May 1997, which may, in future, require a novel food safety assessment.

A novel food is a food or food ingredient that does not have a significant history of consumption within the European Union before 15 May 1997. Before any new food product can be introduced on the European market, it must be assessed rigorously for safety.

According to a letter from the FSA, “Insects and other whole animals are currently exempt from the scope of the Novel Foods Regulation, largely due to an apparent oversight in the wording of the existing text. However, this situation will inevitably change with future amendments to the Regulation, resulting in insects (etc.) that are currently marketed as foods in the EU requiring a novel food safety assessment unless they have been consumed to a significant degree before May 15 1997.”

The letter continues, “At the request of the European Commission, the FSA is carrying out an investigation into insect consumption within the UK which will feed into the EU-wide investigation on this issue. The aim is to generate as comprehensive a list as possible of insects and other animals that may require a novel food safety assessment, so that appropriate transitional measures can be incorporated into the updated Regulation. We expect that discussions on the updated Regulation will take place during 2012.”