Insect bread has appeared on supermarket shelves in Helsinki, according to the Finnish newspaper Helsihgin Sanomat.
Starting Friday, November 24, ten hypermarkets in the Finnish capital region began selling bread containing dried crickets. These products are produced by bakeries Fazer. The flour used to bake the bread contains up to 31,000,000 insects per loaf. According to the manufacturer, approximately 70 dried crickets are used to make one loaf. The protein-rich Sirkaleipa bread, sold in green packaging with an image of an insect, costs €3.99.
According to Juhani Sibakov, Innovation Director at Fazer Bakeries, crickets impart a nutty flavor to bread. Insects are considered an environmentally friendly source of protein, and their cultivation has a lower impact on global warming than beef and pork production. Therefore, Sibakov asserts, bugs and spiders should become a major food source in Finland and other European countries.
Fazer described the new bread product as part of the company's strategic plan to revolutionize food. "Of course, insects have found their way into bread in Finland before, but it was always due to accidents," the bakery joked. Yury Sibakov also noted that attitudes toward insect-based foods in Finland are much more positive than in many other European countries. In the future, the manufacturer plans to stock cricket-infused bread in 47 grocery stores across the country.
As a reminder, the Italian farmers' organization Coldiretti previously reported that a new EU regulation allowing the sale of edible insects in grocery stores will come into effect in January 2018. European producers will be allowed to sell flies, caterpillars, butterflies, and other species from other countries in stores.
Source: news.turizm.ru