Did the European Union (EU) authorize the use of food ingredients from insects that are carcinogenic? No, that's not true. The claim that powdered insect chitin causes cancer and other diseases is false.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published on March 7, 2023, under the title, translated from Bulgarian to English by Lead Stories staff, "Dried insects in food!! Attention! Europe succeeded. The EU won." It opened (as translated):
Attention! Something extremely important! Very soon they will start putting powdered or frozen insect laurels in our food. The list of foods with insect ingredients, through which the EC will officially give us cancer, is taken from the official gazette of the EC, and the regulation authorization is from January 5, this year. Food in which they allow the use of dried insects include bread, crackers, cereal bars, dry baking mixes in biscuits, pizzas, snacks, sauces, instant soups, cornmeal snacks and many other widely consumed products. The chitin found in insects is not suitable for human consumption. It is a type of polysaccharide that is highly carcinogenic and is literally food for cancer cells.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon May 29 18:29:50 2023 UTC+2)
Numerous Bulgarian websites and social media posts falsely suggest that insect products are carcinogenic and consumers will not be aware of that because there was no requirement to give notice on the products. However, the European Commission requires manufacturers to indicate the use of insects in food and their potential allergenicity, as stated in authorization documents of the European Commission.
According to the authorizations, issued by the European Commission in early 2023, the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) reports on defatted house cricket powder and larval products have found that the ingredients are "safe in the proposed terms of use and levels of use." The products tested by the EFSA are seen as harmless.
Lead Stories previously debunked claims that seafood and coffee cause cancer.
