Insects, the new protein approved for consumption in Portugal

Two types of crickets, larvae, locusts and a beetle will hit supermarket shelves in Portugal this summer, a new source of cheap and sustainable protein that European countries see as the food of the future.

The Portuguese General Directorate of Food and Veterinary Medicine (DGAV) paved the way for commercialization and consumption of insects for humans in June, until now limited to animal feed in Portugal, under the transitional period of the European regulation on novel foods.

It is seven species that “they were already marketed in at least one Member State”, confirmed Paula Bico, director of food nutrition services at DGAV.

These are species that it is already possible to “produce and use” in Portugal, which follows in the footsteps of countries like Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in which this food is more and more common, a- he added.

“The two most common” are the flour larvae (Tenebrio mollitor) and the house cricket (Acheta domesticus), Bico said.

Chocolate bars, flavored flours and snacks that “camouflage” crickets and larvae will be the first experience of Portuguese consumers, a bet for the consumer to “accept” insects as well as possible.

The challenge now is to “break down prejudices”, explains Guilhem Pereira, director of Portugal Bugs, an insect production company born in the classrooms of the University of Porto.

In a future more accustomed to this new protein “Flavored insects will be common”, predicts Pereira, who believes that ham or cheese flavored crickets can become the new fries to accompany a beer.

CRICKETS AND LARVES, THE STARS OF THE MAP

Among the seven approved species, Guilhem produces the two most common on his farm: the mealworm (Tenebrio mollitor) and the house cricket (Acheta domesticus).

The first spends eight weeks of growth in the larval stage and is used to make four types of flours, candy bars and other snacks.

In addition, “the production is greater than that of crickets, because it requires less space”.

House crickets have a higher amount of protein than tenebrio “about 60% to 70% protein”says Oscar Silva, founder of the entomoculture company GotanBug.

“Cricket flour has a sweeter smell that may be reminiscent of nuts,” compares Silva, and says tenebrio flour has a “higher proportion of fat” which may be less pleasant for those who don’t. are not used to it.

As it does not undergo metamorphosis, its breeding is simpler: the micro-cricket hatches from the egg and grows until it reaches the adult stage.

A NEW VALUE CHAIN

“To produce a kilo of beef, we spend ten kilos of feed,” explains Pereira, and explains that with the same amount of feed, the production of tenebrio is multiplied by nine.

As for greenhouse gases “compared to cows, tenebrios represent a reduction of 1000%”, he explains.

The use of water resources is “close to zero expense,” says Silva, because “most insects do not need to have access to a water source, they get it from the vegetables they eat. », Admits Pereira.

Food that comes from agricultural waste, a clear idea for Silva, who has established his business in an agricultural area “precisely for this reason”: they use the remains of the area, which currently supply all their needs.

“We are introducing something into the value chain that didn’t have it before,” he says of the circular economy around insect production.

Vegetables that come off the marketing chain because they don’t conform to market canon, leftover grain or brewer’s yeast from food factories, “insects can give food a better destination than garbage”

(with information from the EFE)

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