Europeans are in an uproar after the European Union approved cricket and insect powder for use in a variety of baked goods and other food staples in grocery stores.
The ALDI grocery store chain, headquartered in Illinois, assured its German customers that no insect powder will be stocked in its stores — yet.
CONTEXT – From today powder of the house cricket is allowed in a variety of food products in the European Union.https://t.co/I6Tb3fyt5K
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 24, 2023
NEW – ALDI lets German customers know that "currently" there is no insect powder in its products. https://t.co/wlcGmSzBTB
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 24, 2023
As of January 24, grocery stores in Europe can begin stocking baked goods and other foodstuffs made from crickets. The crickets are freeze-dried and ground into powder which is then used in baked goods such as bread, cupcakes, biscuits and muffins.
Cricket powder can also be used in soups, milk and milk products, pasta, sauces, potatoes and chocolate.
On January 26, grocery stores can stock baked goods containing powdered larvae of the mealworm. Legally, food already includes locusts and larvae of the yellow mealworm.
The food packaging displays the scientific name for bugs such as Gryllus Bimaculatus, a species of cricket known as the two-spotted cricket.
Bill Gates has long championed a sustainable meat-free diet to save the planet.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded $100,000 grants to companies to develop nutritionally dense food using insect species.
Congress is considering similar legislation for the use of bugs to replace meat in American stores.
