The legal status of edible insects in the UK has changed as a result of Brexit.
Last year, on the 23rd January 2020 the Food Standards Agency’s Novel Food Safety team notified us and other food operators, of the following:
“Several edible insects are currently going through the authorisation process in the EU and as these were submitted before 1 January 2019 the transition period is still relevant and in place, but only for those insects currently being assessed. This is in order to give additional time for these applications to reach a conclusion. Insects which are currently being assessed and therefore continue to be allowed to be placed on the market until their specific applications have been completed are:
- Alphitobius diaparinus
- Acheta domesticus
- Tenebrio molitor
- Gyllodes sigallatus
- Schistocerca gregaria
- Locusta migratoria
Other species of insect should no longer be placed on the market until after authorisation has been granted under the Novel Food Regulations (EU) 2015/2283.”
Companies in the UK could operate legally
Thanks to the Belgian Insect Industry Federation (BiiF), which submitted to the European Food Safety Authority [EFSA] in 2018, a non-proprietary application for the authorization of crickets, mealworms and locusts, it was plain sailing for these insect species in the UK and other European countries.
Millions of pounds of private and public funds, for example through Innovate UK, have since being invested for the development of insect-based food. Horizon Insects Ltd is one of 7 UK-based SMEs, which in March 2021 were granted a share of EU assistance worth 410k Euros through Valusect Interreg North West Europe, towards the development of the edible insect sector.
New rules after Brexit
Now, after the end of the Brexit transition period (31st December 2020), the FSA has backtracked, hindering its very development.
Instead of using Brexit as an opportunity to disentangle the industry from red tape and to state an urgently-needed independent scientific opinion, the FSA has decided to make edible insects illegal in GB while it “reflects”. The FSA also states they are still legal in Northern Ireland, since measures put in place to protect business still apply to NI.
So what is the legal status of edible insects in the UK today ?
With its latest communication to the Local Health Authorities [LHAs], dated 23 August 2021 (see below), the FSA has nullified the work of the European Food Safety Agency on the BiiF applications. In its very confusing communication, the FSA on one hand stated that insects are illegal in Great Britain and the other hand that it is “currently reflecting on its policy regarding the marketing of insects in GB, including whether to introduce new GB-specific transitional measures”.
The FSA has given no indication over who in in charge of this “reflection” exercise, or when or if a decision will be made. However in the meantime, some LHAs have interpreted this as instructions to shut down businesses and have started doing so.
The guidance document from the FSA to the LHAs
See the 2 page guidance document from the FSA to the LHAs here:
PLGEN21022+Update+on+the+status+of+edible+insects (2)In countries like Australia and New Zealand, Food Standards Australia New Zealand [FSANZ] has carried out their independent assessment of insects like mealworms, crickets and locusts and identified no safety risks. Australia and New Zealand regulates the products under general food law and not as novel foods.
In contrast, in 2015 the EU classified edible insects as novel food, under the definition “foods which have not been widely consumed by people in the UK or EU before May 1997”. The FSA now uses the services of a newly established independent Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) and it is demanding companies to re-apply.
Furthermore the EFSA journals with the scientific data and the EFSA’s conclusions are already in the public domain (see for example EFSA Journal on Safety of frozen and dried formulations from House Cricket (Acheta Domesticus) or EFSA Journal on Safety of dried Yellow Mealworm)
The cost of gathering the relevant scientific evidence it estimated to be around £80K per insect species. The application will take around 12-16 months to be processed. Furthermore the FSA has ignored the fact that the scientific data was already in the EFSA domain prior to Brexit, hence it would have been available to the UK.
On this point the FSA Board replied on the 5th October 2021.
“Retained EU law made no provision for a transition from the EU to the GB novel foods authorisation regime. There is no legal basis for allowing unauthorised novel foods to remain on the GB market simply because they were covered by Article 35(2) under EU law and were therefore able to remain on the EU market pending conclusion of the EU authorisation process. If edible insects were not authorised in the EU before the end of Transition Period then, in the GB market, they are regarded as unauthorised novel foods and would require an application to be submitted and then be authorised in order to be in compliance with the legislation.”
Not only will each insect species require a separate application, but early indications are that each farmer and each manufacturer, present and future, will need to submit an application. This is because, since insects are “novel food”, the method of preparation and the quantity in each product will require a separate evaluation and a separate set of scientific data.
Note that, however, (see our previous blog post) the FSA has not been able to provide any answer to the specifics.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the future and the legal status of edible insects in the UK and the many SMEs whose livelihood depends on this remains uncertain, while the FSA continues to “reflects” on what to do. Perhaps product recalls from shops, online retailers, restaurants will ensue ? Perhaps in line with Australia and New Zealand the FSA will revise the EU ‘novel food’ approach ? Only one thing is certain, soon we will only be eating insects imported into the UK from the EU.