Cricket flour: since last January, when the EU authorized its sale, there has been a lot of talk about it and not without some controversy.
Not long ago, the launch by a Milanese restaurant chain of the first burger made with a 1.6% share of cricket flour in the dough also made headlines. The Grillo Cheeseburger, as it was called, immediately attracted the curiosity of many and, as it was easy to imagine, also various criticisms.
But what do we know today, from a nutritional and safety point of view, of this much-discussed novel food? Cricket flour can be considered a healthy food? And above all it can really represent a sustainable alternative to the classic animal proteins?
We tried to take stock with two experts.
How cricket flour is made
The question many are asking is how cricket flour is made or more precisely the partially defatted flour Acheta domesticus (domestic cricket).
“Cricket flour it comes from insects that are fed with 100% plant-based feed and bred, according to regulations, without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides or other chemicals toxic to humans. A necessary criterion for insects to be placed on the European market – explains Dr. Paola De Luca, RAF First Clinic nutritionist and researcher at the IRCCS Galeazzi-Sant’Ambrogio Hospital in Milan – Before being slaughtered, the animals are left fasting for 24 hours. This serves to eliminate any food residue from their body, in order to then obtain an animal that is 100% insect and does not have a percentage of vegetable feed inside. Then insects are killed, collected and processed. The process consists of numerous washing steps and in one sort of boiling for 3 minutes in boiling water which serves to sterilize the product. The bugs come next dehydrated and defattedi.e. the lipid part is eliminated, and finally they come ground. Only at the end of this process the product is sieved to obtain a thinner flour that can be put on the market».
What can be prepared with cricket flour?
With the cricket flour thus obtained different baked goods can be preparedas pizza, bread, crackers, breadsticks but also snacks and pasta, both dry and wet.
«Not only that, this flour can be used in freeze-dried powdered soupssauces – explains the nutritionist – or in products that are substitutes for meat and even be inserted in the production process of beer and chocolate. In short, in many foods commonly used in the kitchen».
However, this does not mean that in the future we can run the risk of consuming products containing cricket flour without knowing it…
«No, this risk doesn’t exist because the legislation requires that it be indicated clearly his presence and his amount within the nutritional label – explains Dr. De Luca – and that’s because anyway it is a product containing allergens».
Cricket flour: nutritional aspects
Among the reasons that prompted the European Union to give the go-ahead for the marketing of this product, there seem to be its nutritional values.
“From a nutritional point of view cricket flour is considered a good product – confirms the expert – as it contains more than 70% protein, only 10% fat because, as we said, it is a defatted flour, e 9% fiber. More contains 5-9% chitin which is the major component of the insect exoskeleton. A substance that appears to be capable of promote the growth of good intestinal bacteria, but also to have an antibacterial actionOf reduce bad cholesterol and even of also have positive effects in the treatment of osteoporosis».
Cricket Flour: Is It Safe?
Also from a safety point of view, cricket flour does not seem to present any contraindications…
«EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) stated that in insects fed with authorized feed the potential microbiological hazard is similar to that of unprocessed meats – explains Dr. De Luca – In this flour there is therefore no higher potential microbiological risk than the meat we are used to buying. These insects however, they can cause allergic reactions in predisposed individuals, such as in people who are allergic to crustaceans, molluscs or dust mites. For this, as we said, the The presence of this flour in a food must always be indicated on the label with the correct percentage. Falling into the category of allergens, it must be reported even if it is present in a minimum percentage ».
Sustainability and costs
Cricket flour can therefore truly be considered amore sustainable alternative to the classic animal proteins?
“From the point of view environmentally friendly has its advantages and this is another of the reasons that led the EU to authorize trade – explains the nutritionist – Compared to farms intensive meat, in fact, that of insects impacts only 1% on the total release of Co2. The environmental impact is therefore very minimal compared to that of intensive farming of other animals”.
Valid from a nutritional point of view and also sustainable: cricket flour, having overcome the initial reticence, is it therefore a food of 10 and praise? In reality there is a limit and it is not only linked to the aversion of many to the idea of eating insects but also at a rather high cost.
“We almost talk of 10 euros for every 100 grams of product – concludes the nutritionist – All those steps we have talked about, necessary to obtain a product that can be placed on the European market, have as a consequence a very high final price. My opinion is that, if this product is particularly successful in Europe as well, perhaps the farms will increase and strategies to lower costs of production”.
But this is yet to be seen because, as we said, the entomophagyor food consumption of insects, still arouses in many people not a few perplexityif not outright aversion.
Are we really ready to overcome this “block”?
“Actually not very much and for a variety of reasons – explains Professor Giuseppe Pantaleo, full professor of Social Psychology and Director of UniSR – Social Lab, the Social Psychology laboratory of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan – there are indeed valid rational reasons for the consumption of this type of food, such as that linked to sustainability or their protein intake: however often we don’t follow a logicas much as one psycho-logical. From a psychological point of view, especially in Western cultures and in Italian in particular, it is present a very strong cultural identity, also based on the quality of the food, to be proud of. Just think of all the protected brandsconsider yourself a identity symbol of our culture. This anchors us in a specific direction».
If today we are not yet ready for this change, Can we expect an evolution of taste in the future?
«Change in principle is always possible – adds Professor Pantaleo – but it is a matter of change ingrained attitudes and opinions and this is a slow process. If on an individual level it is individual experiences that lead us to change (by chance I taste a food with cricket flour, I discover that I like it and perhaps I begin to change my opinion), culturally, change takes longer. In fact, eating is a matter of identitynot only of personal taste but of shared norms within a certain group or of a certain culture: an evolution of attitudes and opinions can occur but only if a series of factors exist. There logical persuasion will somehow have to go hand in hand with an emotional and motivational conviction which above all plays on group identity, beyond the aversion to certain foods».
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Source: Vanity Fair
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