The minister pointed out that traditional eating habits could be at risk, as Brussels is allowing more and more insect species to be sold for food purposes. According to the European Commission’s decision, along with house crickets, there are already four species of insects that can appear commercially as food and food ingredient in the European Union. István Nagy reminded us that our country is the only member state that did not support this EU decision, since neither food nor protein shortage should be feared in the EU.

The minister also mentioned, that the Ministry of Agriculture to amend the decree on food labelling in order to give credible and accurate information to consumers. Thus, products containing insect proteins will be well distinguishable and isolated on store shelves. In accordance, the ingredients will have to be clearly visible on the packaging. These products will also have to be isolated on separate shelves in stores.

István Nagy emphasized, opinion polls prove that Hungarian people do not want to eat insects. According to the National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH/NFCSO) survey, less than 5 percent of consumers would like to eat food made with insects, and more than 70 percent of them strongly isolate themselves from this opportunity. According to István Nagy, thanks to the diligence and persistence of Hungarian farmers, our country has a lot of high-quality raw materials, fresh, healthy and high-quality food, therefore we do not need to eat worms. It is important to preserve our gastronomic traditions and not to let change our eating habits – the minister added.

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