Worms on our plates? This February 10, 2025, the European Union has indeed authorized the use of larvae powder of Tenebrio Molitor (Flour worm) In various food products, including bread, pasta, cakes, and even compotes and cheeses. This decision is part of a series of authorizations already granted to other insects such as the migratory locust and the domestic cricket. The objective of these measures? Propose alternatives to traditional proteins in the face of a constantly increasing global demand.
Durable and rich in vitamins
Insects are considered a lasting food solution. Rich in proteins, fibers, vitamins and minerals, they require fewer resources for their breeding – water, space, food – and generate much less greenhouse gas than traditional farms. If that does not seem very steep, rest assured, no taste of insects to be expected, because the worms in question undergo a particular treatment before being reduced to powder. They will be treated thermally and then crushed, before the powder is itself treated with ultraviolet. Steps that remove not only pathogens but also increase their vitamin D3 content.
Strict regulation
Powder can therefore be integrated into a number of food products: bread, rolls; cakes; pasta products; transformed potato products; cheeses; Compotes of fruit or vegetables intended for the general population, up to 4 g per 100 g of product, especially 4 g for bread and up to 3.5 g in cakes. Obviously impossible to consume it without knowing it, because the European Commission imposes strict labeling. The exact name “whole larvae powder of Tenebrio Molitor (flour) treated with UV ”will have to appear on the packaging of the products concerned. In addition, a specific warning should be mentioned for people allergic to crustaceans and mites, because they could present allergic reactions to this larvae powder.
