Future Food: Meatballs and Falafel from Mealworms and Crickets

Because insect fractions effectively bind water and fat, they are particularly suitable as ingredients in various solid foods. The fractions were tested as a raw material for meatballs and falafel balls in VTT’s test kitchen, by replacing 5-18% of meatball or falafel dough with insect fractions. Insects are rich in high-quality protein – a small addition of the insect fractions into falafel dough even tripled the protein content of falafel balls.

Many consumers and the food industry are already interested in insects as a dietary source of protein. However, their industrial exploitation will require identifying the characteristics of insect raw materials and developing them into a form that is suitable for use in the food industry.

Insects have not yet been granted a novel food authorisation within the EU area, but it is expected that one will be granted in 2018. Insect products are already on sale in some European countries. Despite the lack of a novel food authorisation, insects have become a major new food trend in Europe, although eating them whole seems unpleasant to many people. The widespread introduction of insects in western countries will require the development of their processing into ready-to-use raw materials for foodstuffs.

Contacts and sources: