Bakers in Slovakia refused to use approved EU ingredients with insects

Representatives of the Slovak bakery industry refused to use approved products in their products. EU ingredients containing insects. In a joint resolution, the participants of the bakery industry refused to use insect-based ingredients in their products, which the European Union (EU) has certified and approved for human consumption in recent years.

The Association of Bakers, Confectioners and Confectionery Manufacturers of Slovakia (SZPCC), which represents the vast majority of players in the country's bakery industry and has more than 12 thousand employees, at its general meeting in March adopted a joint statement binding on its members against the use of insect-based ingredients.

The intersectoral organization, in particular, reacted to the fact that the decision of the European Commission, which came into force last month, further expanded the range of ingredients based on insects, which, in its opinion, are suitable for human consumption. The decision taken back in January, in particular, allowed the use of ultraviolet-treated corn flour in powder in the food industry.

SZPCC, in its unanimously adopted decision, declares that Slovak industrial enterprises will not use such ingredients in their products under any circumstances, even if this is directly required by international networks that play a major role in the distribution of bakery products in Slovakia.

"If you want to eat crushed larvae, choose Western European products that are already on store shelves and that are imported in large quantities by chain stores. Of course, there are no such ingredients in Slovak products," said Milan Lapsansky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Slovak bakery organization.

He added that although the European Commission has given the green light to the use of ultraviolet-treated corn flour in the food industry, there are still no reliable studies on how the consumption of insect-based ingredients will affect people's health in the long term. He stressed that economic and moral justifications also have their limits, and they will not succumb to the pressure of environmental activists or chain stores in this matter.

According to the relevant regulations, food products containing various insect-based additives are available on the market The EU has been for more than two years. However, in most countries The EU has no special requirements for labeling such products. Currently, such a "clearly visible indication" obligation is valid only in Hungary, Italy, Poland and Romania, while in other Member States EU The presence of such additives should only be indicated in the usual content designations.

In Slovakia, according to the local Chamber of Food Industry (PKS), the annual production capacity of the bakery sector is approaching 290 thousand tons, which would ensure almost complete self-sufficiency, but local industry players use only a little more than 50% of the production capacity. According to the SZPCC data published this year, the number and proportion of bakery products imported in Slovakia is growing from year to year, last year they amounted to more than 55 thousand tons. Most of these products come from Belgium, Germany and Poland, and the vast majority of them are sold on the shelves of international chain stores.