UPDATE: added a third and fourth reference.

Fourth: Food Navigator article that includes the standard response and additional follow up questions.

Third: A power point from by the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy.

Here is the LINK. (the file is from Ben Guarino’s Inverse article.)

…

The first is courtesy of Andrew Brentano of Tiny Farms. Tiny Farms has an excellent forum, Open Bug Farm, that covers a wide range is topics on edible insects.

I attempted to secure my own copy by messaging the FDA’s Food and Cosmetic Information Center (FCIC). The first response did not have much content so I sent a follow up note.

My interest in getting a copy came from the IFT (2015) panel discussion on edible insects. One of the speakers, who is from the FDA, mentioned that there was a standard response for edible insects. The key points he mentioned were on point with the letter Andrew received.

The response I received was slightly different and didn’t have some of the same key points.

Some follow up questions I have from the letters:

• Why don’t they match more consistently in content and language?
• Why must insects be raised specifically for human consumption? Corn is diverted all over the place.
• What is the basis for disallowing wild crafted insects? I feel its no different than trolling for shrimp.
• There is no mention of needing a GRAS determination.
• Whats the definition of ‘Exotic Food’ and why does it matter? This is the first mention of ‘Exotic Food’ I have seen. Its not in any regulations.

Please share any letter or response you have received.

Be in touch on Twitter at Bob the Cricket