Neither Belgium nor the European Union has any specific regulations regarding breeding and marketing insects for human consumption, but the trade is tolerated. And why not? Insects, according to the Scientific Committee of the (Belgium) Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain, “offer great potential” as alternative sources of dietary protein.
But what about food safety?
The agency is out with “Common Advice” about the food-safety aspects of insects, a 22-page paper validated by the country’s Superior Health Council. It suggests that, while there are about 1,500 to 2,000 edible insect species in the world, and that, in some regions, they’ve been eaten by human for centuries, there isn’t much scientific literature on the food safety of insects.
