Insects could soon hit Europe s supermarkets and become part of our daily diets.
The breakthrough comes after last month the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) published a scientific opinion concluding that dried yellow mealworm is safe for human consumption.
This is the first time that EFSA, an independent agency of the EU that monitors the food chain, releases a complete evaluation of an insect-derived food product.
The decision is now in hands of the European Commission, which has the power to authorise the introduction of so-called novel food in the EU s single market.
Under current EU law, any food that was not consumed significantly prior to May 1997 is considered to be a novel food. The category encompasses food from new sources, new substances used in food and new ways and technologies for producing food.
The Bijagó are an ethnic group indigenous to the Bijagós archipelago, which belongs to the small nation of Guinea-Bissau on the West African Coast. They inhabit approximately 21 of the 88 islands, with the islets serving as spiritual grounds. Most of them exist at the margins of the economy, with only a few integrating themselves further through the tourism industry – one that has been expanding significantly in the past years.
The lives of the Bijagó people are intimately entwined with their natural environments, with the dense forests often being given a holy character. As such, Bijagó traditional knowledge and culture are central to the preservation of the islands’ biodiversity.