A powder made of yellow mealworms could be the next insect-based foodstuff to hit EU supermarket shelves after winning the approval of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concluded it raised no safety concerns.

The scientific opinion, which focused on the safety of UV-treated powder of yellow mealworms, was published on Thursday (1 June) at the behest of the European Commission, which tasked EFSA’s panel on novel foods and food allergens to investigate powdered larvae following an application from the French company, Nutri’Earth. It concluded that the powder, made from the larval form of the insect species Tenebrio molitor, is both nutritional and safe to use under the company’s proposed uses. These include as an ingredient in various food productions, including flour-based food products like cakes, wheat bread and rolls, and pasta and cheese, with the target population stipulated as the “general population”. ....