A call for European legislation to be adapted to allow insect products to fulfil their potential as a “sustainable and innovative source of animal proteins” for food consumption and animal feed has been issued by the newly established International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF).
“Our planet faces huge challenges because of the growing population and increasing competition for scarce resources, and we believe that insects are part of the solution”, said IPIFF president, Antoine Hubert.
Formed to enable the insect products industry to speak to EU institutions and partners from the food and feed chain with one voice, IPIFF want to make insect protein available to EU farmers, companies and consumers.
Claiming that current EU legislation is not tailored to insect protein specificities, the organisation says that the lack of legal certainty on the issue is jeopardising the investment and production plans of companies, thereby restricting the availability of this “promising source of protein”.
IPIFF is therefore pressing for the revision of EU feed legislation to allow insect products, reared on 100% vegetable substrates, to be used as sources of proteins for aquaculture, poultry and pigs.
IPIFF, which was launched in Brussels on Monday this week, already includes members from the Netherlands, France, Germany and South Africa.Â