Category Research project
  • Analytik
  • Expositionsschätzung

EU-FORA 2021/2022: Insects in food and their relevance regarding allergenicity assessment

Project status
Completed
Project start
Sept 2021
Project end
Aug 2022
Acronym
EU-FORA 2021-2022-5
Department
Lebensmittelsicherheit

Description and Objective

Insects as foods or food ingredients have become more popular and will soon receive authorization according to the “Novel Foods”-Regulation in the EU. The fellow will be introduced to allergenicity risk assessment and learn basics as well as high-end nucleic acid- and protein-based techniques to be used in the analysis of in vitro (mainly, proteolysis studies) tools to be used in the identification and assessment of potentially allergenic foodstuff derived from insects. In addition, the fellow could also explore the usefulness of more refined and advanced in silico approaches to assess the safety assessment of proteins. In parallel, the fellow will review the scientific evidence revealing the potential influence of the human gut microbiota on the immunogenicity of food antigens and, particularly, of well-described food allergens with the focus on insects as novel foods with potential allergenic potential. This particular activity will be linked to the recently granted proposal corresponding to the call “Thematic grants: Preparedness for future challenges in specific areas of EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority`s work: Lot 1".

Result

Within the European Green Deal, the ‘Farm-to-Fork’ strategy aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system and to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly. Insects contribute to the circularity of agriculture, and are ideal candidates to complement traditional sources of protein. In this context, a working programme within the European Food Risk Assessment (EU-FORA) Fellowship Programme framework was developed at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council. The purpose of this technical report is to describe the activities in which the fellow was involved. As part of the training, the fellow performed a literature search regarding insects as food and allergenicity resulting in 493 hits. Out of the literature search a comprehensive scientific database with 200 publications has been built using the application “EndNote”. Furthermore, an extensive scientific review with the title "Sustainable food systems: EU regulatory framework and contribution of insects to the Farm-to-Fork strategy" approaching several important issues regarding insects (Regulatory frame, Market situation, Labelling and Control, Application as food/feed, Consumer acceptance and Allergenicity risk assessment) has been drafted and sent for publication in a peer reviewed journal. In order to analyse the impact of food processing on the allergenicity of insects, different food samples were prepared and artificially digested using a protocol simulating the gastro- intestinal tract. Further laboratory work to analyse the readouts, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), has been discussed and proposed, scheduled for the end of July. In conclusion, the present working programme, together with additional activities and training provided by different institutions, enabled the fellow to gain a broader perspective in food safety, particularly concerning insects as novel foods and their safety assessment.
Type of project

Third-party funded project

Research focus

Internationale Zusammenarbeit / Wirkungsbezogene Analytik und Risikofrüherkennung

Organisational units and partners

Lead specialist group: Speziesidentifizierung in Lebens- und Futtermitteln (55)
Contact persons: Hermann Broll
Involved BfR partners: Internationale Angelegenheiten
External partner: Spanish National Research Council

Funding body and grant number

Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit
GP/EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority/ENCO/2020/04-GA16

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