Insects as novel foods – an overview
In addition to the ‘general food hygiene requirements’, the production and marketing of insects as food in Europe is governed by the ‘Novel Foods’ legislation – i.e. Regulation (EU) No 2015/2283. This legislation applies to all categories of foods that ‘were not used for human consumption to a significant degree’ within the European Union before 15 May 1997, which is the case of insects. On this page, we aim to guide you through the key documents of relevance for the policy file ‘EU novel food legislation’, by answering the following questions:
Are insects on the EU market already?
How does the authorisation process look like?
Can edible insects be imported into the European Union?