"The Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida come and visit our factory, where around 10 million crickets are bred every day".
The invitation comes from José Francesco Cianni, CEO of Nutrinsect of Montecassiano (Macerata), the first and only Italian company authorized to produce, transform and market, for human food use, the entire cricket flour supply chain, in this case freeze-dried.
Cricket flour, which the law requires to be called 'achetadomesticus powder'.
"A new page in the history of food is opening," Cianni told ANSA. "From today, 29 January 2024, the product will be distributed by Reire of Reggio Emilia to food companies and the entire horeca channel."
It is a process that was completed after the European Union had decided to market the product in 2022. Nutrinsect has been working on the project for 10 years, "with thousands of hours of research and experimentation".
"We managed to put a 100% Made in Italy product on the market, but above all a healthy and I would even say very good product" he insists.
"We know that cricket powder has aroused and will continue to arouse many discussions - explains Cianni -, but we are in all respects breeders and we produce a product entirely Made in Italy, which we breed without any antibiotics or medicines, but only with vegetable raw materials, no GMO. It would be important if the minister visited our farm, he would have the opportunity to personally see our reality which is growing significantly and which we hope will be protected with respect to the dust that can arrive on the shelves from all over the world".
Cricket powder is high in protein (about 3 times the content of meat), calcium, iron and vitamin B12 (deficient in vegetarian and vegan diets), rich in fiber with a limited amount of fat and calories.
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