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>>>ANSA/Govt presents decrees on insect products in food

Legislation requires clear labelling, separate shelves in shops

Redazione Ansa

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 23 - The Italian government said Thursday that is has approved four decrees regulating the use of four different flours derived from insects after the European Union recently approved their sale for human consumption.
    The decrees regard powders made from crickets, migratory locusts, mealworms and lesser mealworms.
    The decrees ban insect flours being used in some foods and oblige producers to make it very clear on labels when an item contains them.
    "We will watch over the full respect of the measures announced today with the NAS health police, both regarding the ban on using insect flours in foods that are typical of the Mediterranean diet, such as pizza and pasta, and on the labelling of the products that contain them, which will have to be visible and clear," said Health Minister Orazio Schillaci during a news conference.
    Furthermore, the decrees will make it necessary for shops selling products containing insect flours to display them on separate shelves from other goods.
    "In this way, the people who choose to buy crickets, larva and locusts can go to this area and those who do not can stay away, as I imagine the majority of the Italian people will do," said Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida.
    Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso thanked Italy's regions for the contribution they made to drafting the decrees and said the next move will be for the government to notify the European Commission of them.
    "The measures are based on the principle of transparency and the capacity to make an informed choice of the consumers, who must know how a product has been made, where it comes from and what it is made out of in order to be free to use the product or not," Urso said.
    "It is the right road to protect our Mediterranean diet, which is among the excellence that Made in Italy is famed for around the world".
    Insects are increasingly being seen as a good dietary alternative because of their abundance, their high-protein and nutritious properties and the low carbon footprint of production.
    "The decrees are just but I don't understand the clearly negative tones being used to talk about these flours," Josè Francesco Cianni, the CEO of Nutrinsect firm that is in this sector, told ANSA.
    "It's right that consumers are informed about what they are buying and eating and that is valid for any product, whether it be flour from insects or chick peas or lentils.
    "It's also right that there should be corners of shops dedicated to insect flours, like there is for organic and gluten-free goods.
    "The important thing is that the position of insect flours is not designed to marginalize or hide the product". (ANSA).
   

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