Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this German-language article from Uncut News. The translator’s comments are in square brackets:
Setback for the WEF and the EU: Romania bans crickets and grasshoppers in food and the Netherlands wants to follow suit
PSD [Social Democrat] MPs have tabled a bill banning the presence of insects in food sold in Romania. For example, traditional Romanian products are not allowed to contain insects in any form, and products with a specific name containing grasshoppers, larvae, crickets and worms are not allowed to be marketed in Romania. Also, food containing insects must be sold at separate stalls that visibly indicate the presence of insects. [I rather doubt — after that law is passed — that many supermarkets will stock this rubbish.]
For the first time, Romania has managed to cleverly defy the European Commission without breaking EU rules. The approval of insects as food in the European Union has caused a wave of indignation and horror among Romanians, who fear being forced to eat insects without clear and unambiguous information. That is why PSD MPs have drafted a law that regulates the use of insect flour in the manufacture of products and the marketing of these products in Romania, which actually means a hidden ban on insects in food. The draft concerns the EU regulations governing the placing on the market of dried larvae of Tenebrio molitor (yellow mealworm).
“The need to regulate the use of insect meal in the preparation/manufacture of products and the marketing of these products on Romanian territory arose from the extensive debates in the Romanian public on the use of food containing insect species classified as novel foodstuffs from the EU area that may be placed on the market. At the same time, the regulation of the use of insect meal in the manufacture of products in Romania aims to protect traditional Romanian products, but also to correctly inform consumers so that they are able to distinguish and differentiate foods containing insects from classic products,” it says in the explanatory memorandum to the bill.
Duty to change product names
According to the draft law, economic operators on Romanian territory are prohibited from using insect meal for the production of products listed in the National Register of Traditional Products. Furthermore, the manufacture/preparation/marketing of products under the originally-used name is prohibited if they do not contain approved insect meal as ingredients. Only clear proper names may be used in the product names, which must contain one of the phrases “with…”, “from…”, followed by the common name of the insect species, regardless of their proportion in the end product, according to the draft. In order to protect consumers from confusion, products containing insects are presented in a separate stand in the direct sales areas and away from the traditional products.
“In order to provide consumers with adequate information and enable them to find clear and complete information about food that is made of or contains insect species, economic operators are required to place, in a visible, easily accessible place next to the separate stand, the information that the food is made of or contains insect species. This information must be placed by the trader on a stand or board in a color that contrasts with the background color of the board. The display medium or panel must be monochromatic, without gradients or other graphic markings or colors, clearly and unambiguously in an easy-to-read Times New Roman 20 font size,” the bill reads.
Fines of 100,000 lei (around US $20,000)
At the same time, the provision of information about food containing insect species and marketed online must be done in such a way that the information is available and accessible before the completion of the order on the remote sales medium, on the price tag or transport packaging and in any promotional material. And on menus in restaurants or other public catering establishments, information about the presence of insect species in food must be visible, easily accessible and indelible, and not obscured by other written or photographic material. Violation of the provisions of the draft law, with the exception of those relating to catering establishments, constitutes a criminal offense and carries fines ranging from 10,000 lei to 100,000 lei.
Criticism of eating insects is also growing in the Netherlands.
FVD [Forum for Democracy] speaks out against the “harmful normalization” of insects in our food
The FVD Almere has tabled a motion asking the college to ban all types of food containing insects in company restaurants and educational establishments.
The party opposes the EU allowing the consumption of three species of insects: migratory locust, yellow mealworm and house cricket. A range of insect products was added in January: powdered house crickets and powdered small mealworms.
The party argues that much more research is needed before consumption of insects can be normalized in the food chain and no risk to human health can be posited.
The FVD Almere points out that insects contain the substance chitin, the main component of their exoskeleton. According to studies, this substance can be carcinogenic and cause colon cancer because our intestines cannot process it, the party said.
The party also cites a Spanish study that found eating insects can cause health risks, including growth retardation, hypofertility, masculinization in women, edema, jaundice and liver cancer.
Many people may experience an allergic reaction after eating food containing insects, especially people who are allergic to seafood and dust mites.
What does FVD Almere want? No offering of insect-containing food or snacks in educational establishments and a ban on adding insects to food for human consumption in company restaurants.
See also: Ziarul National (Romanian)
Afterword from the translator:
Is it then a wonder that they want to ban us growing our own food or having livestock? After all, those who control the food control the people, especially those in the cities, and that’s why they also want to force everyone into those soulless concrete concentration camps.
And there’s another reason they don’t want us to eat our own produce…
“Superiority” of mind and character — if such is our ideal of “nobility” — does not lie in the birth certificates of those self-proclaimed “elites”, but stems from the manner in which we conduct our lives. After all, as we can clearly see daily now, the vilest scoundrels alive claim this “nobility” over those they deem and degrade as “useless eaters”.
An epic prank would be to suborn the catering firm that supplies the meals to the Davos elites, and swap out their medallions of filet mignon and Chilean sea bass with cricket burgers and mealworm and maggot pâté.
I tend to think of the south park show when Cartman try to bully Mexican restaurant owner into giving him free or discount food or get bad reviews on grubhub. The owner rub his [manly organs] and or [fundament] on the food and did other things to it and was glad to give cartman his free or discounted food. The new world order should get it good and hard from every farmer, cook , policeman , driver, bottle washer, airline pilot , they should get food poison, get dropped on their head, crashed into a pole ,drop into a hole in the ground , it should be like a three stooges show how the average citizen treat these ruling elite. When they take away everything what do you have to lose??