Insect food to go on sale in Switzerland

First European country to have authorised sale of insect-based produce for human consumption

Insect-based food items will be up for sale in Switzerland’s Coop supermarket after the country’s food safety laws were revised.



Flour burgers and balls of protein-rich mealworms will be available for human consumption in Switzerland’s second-largest supermarket chain. Essento, a Swiss start-up, will produce the items, which will be launched at selected Coop branches in Geneva, Bern and Zurich from August 21.

According to a spokesperson for the country’s food safety authority, Switzerland is the first European country to have authorised the sale of insect-based produce for human consumption, which was previously being used only in animal feed.



In May, Switzerland’s food safety laws were amended to allow the sale of food items containing three types of insects, namely crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms, which are the larval form of the mealworm beetle.

The law demands breeding insects under strict supervision for four generations before they can be used for human consumption, which implies that they will be available on the market after a few months. Imports, meanwhile, are allowed under strict rules. The insects must be raised in line with the Swiss requirements at a firm registered for inspections by national food safety authorities.

This story originally appeared on The Guardian