The startup company Sens Food, which focuses on the processing of insect protein, lost an important business partner due to misinformation.
According to the company, false information appears on social networks and in the media that the EU mandates the addition of insects to common foods. The company stated this in a press release. She also drew attention to the findings of the organizations Čeští elfové and manipulatori.cz, which draw attention to misinformation regarding the possible use of insects in the food industry and states that some Czech politicians are also spreading it.
The company perceives misinformation as an attack on its business and the entire field of insect processing. One of the founders of the company, Radek Hušek, said that the use of raw materials of insect origin in food production was permitted by the European Union at the end of January this year. “However, a number of disinformation sources distorted this information and began to present it in such a way that it is perhaps an obligation. But it is only a possibility, and if insects are used in food, it must be properly labeled, just like any other raw material that is in contained in the product,” he said.
The Czech Elves group, which focuses on the fight against misinformation, stated in its analysis that the topic of using insects began to appear after the January presidential election. As examples, he cites, for example, chain e-mails, which mostly used the topic to attack EU policy in order to weaken its institutions. The elves estimate that they have reached the lower tens of thousands of people. According to the group, the topic appeared prominently on social networks, where a group called “I don’t eat crickets” was also created on Telegram.
On Facebook, the MEP Ivan David, elected for the SPD, also discussed the topic, who, among other things, wrote about the “compulsory consumption of insects”. According to Czech Elves, former prime minister and chairman of the ANO movement Andrej Babiš also spoke about insects in food on CNN Prima News in connection with the campaign for the European Parliament. “They say here that in twenty years there will be no normal food. There will be no cattle and we will be eating larvae,” he said.
The company Sens Food said that one of its customers has stopped working with it at least until the misinformation stops appearing in the public space.
At the same time, the company added that the production of food from insects requires an incomparably smaller amount of water or feed than conventional animal production. According to Hušek, the production of food from insects does not mean that it should replace classic meat. “It’s the same as if you stigmatized vegans and vegetarians. In short, there are a lot of people who don’t want or can’t eat meat for ethical or health reasons. And crickets are the ideal alternative,” he added.
The Minister of Agriculture Zdeněk Nekula (KDU-ČSL) drew attention to misinformation regarding food this week, in connection with the import of Ukrainian grain into the EU. MEP David wrote last week that “the European Commission wants to extend the unlimited import of poisonous grain from Ukraine”. In Slovakia, residues of pesticides, which are banned in the European Union, appeared in one of the shipments. However, Nekula assured the public that checks by the Czech supervisory authorities on grain, meat or eggs from Ukraine did not reveal any unsatisfactory samples and that there is no danger due to the checks.
