Ghent University: Insect fat as a butter substitute?

: Published: 14 April 2020

Food technologists from the University of Ghent in Belgium are experimenting with alternative food sources. The current focus is on insects. The crawling animals or their larvae are not only potential protein sources, but could also replace animal fats.

The researchers' thesis is that insect fat is a sustainable and healthy alternative to butter. This sounds provocative and may sound a little surprising, considering that there have been many plant-based alternatives to butter on the market for decades. Allegedly, the fat extracted from the larvae of the black soldier fly should taste very close to the typical butter flavour, which is not always the case with margarine.

blind tasting of biscuits

What could be more obvious than to give a consumer panel various baked goods for blind tasting. Biscuits and fresh Belgian waffles were baked with 100% butter, 25% and 50% insect fat and presented to the testers. We know nothing about the composition of the panel and their sensory competence, but allegedly the 25% replacement could not be tasted. The Belgian researchers believe that breeding insects is ecological and sustainable. Compared to butter made from milk fat, it is also said to have health benefits, as the fat is rich in lauric acid.

Testing packages for Novel Food

One thing is certain: intensive research is being carried out on insect food. AGROLAB has recognized this trend and has responded to the new analytical challenges with a special analysis program. Currently, products containing insect components are considered "Novel Food" and are also subject to the usual EU approval procedure before the products end up in the supermarket.

If you like to learn more about our analytical package for "Novel Food", please request our product flyer or download it from our website.

You can find more about this topic on our website under Analytics of Novel-Food or in our pdf product information (1021 KB)

Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger

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