Dedicated spaces on the shelves, clear labels and bans on the use of typical Made in Italy products such as pasta and pizza.
These are the stakes established in the four decrees signed this morning by the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, the Minister of Made in Italy Adolfo Urso and of Health Orazio Schillaci, to regulate the use in Italy of insect meal authorized by Brussels .
«We can feed on what we consider most suitable», said the ministers involved but «as regards cricket flour, migratory locust, mealworm and gilla larva , we think we need labeling that specifies in a timely and visible which products derive from these insects».
"What the decrees provide for is a label with the origin of the product - explained Lollobrigida - the risks associated with consumption and the quantity of insect flour present, but we have also provided special shelves where they can be displayed inside the shops ", so that "those who want to choose crickets, larvae and locusts can go there and those who don't want to, as I imagine most Italians , can keep away".
With this provision, he added, « we guarantee Italian citizens awareness of what they eat and make Italy a nation at the forefront in this sense . The aim was to combine the novel foods authorized by Brussels with the consumption patterns of Italian citizens. And the key is information».
Not only that, the flours absolutely cannot be used as ingredients for pasta and pizza : «We don't want citizens to perceive as traditional products that instead have raw materials unrelated to our tradition».
" We will also supervise with the support of the Nas on the correct application of the rules dictated with the decrees signed today", underlined Schillaci.
The provisions, defined with the contribution of the Conference of the Regions, have already been notified to Brussels and will be directly applicable after the EU opinion.
