Are the majority of supermarket snack biscuits produced using insect flour? Would it be possible to recognize it using a frog-shaped logo affixed to the packages?
This is what an Internet user says, in a video posted Wednesday December 6, 2023 on TikTok, which already has more than a million views on the platform, also shared on other social networks such as X (Twitter).
In the video in question, a man, whose voice only can be heard, films packages of industrial cakes one by one in a supermarket aisle. The man notices that many of them have a similar frog logo on their packaging.
“It’s almost everywhere, on all cakes so be careful. Insect meal, animal meal. Not great,” complains the man who films these images. Two lines of text added to the video support his point: “Be careful, look before buying insect flour” and “Almost all cakes have this 💩”.
A logo that does not indicate the presence of insect meal
Contrary to what the video states, the frog logo is not intended to inform about the use of insect meal in the product manufacturing process. This is the logo “ Rainforest Alliance », a certification which aims to promote “collective action for humans and nature”, as explained on the organization’s website.
“The label means that the certified ingredient has been produced using methods that support the three pillars of sustainability: social, economic and environmental. “. This eco-responsible certification is offered by an American NGO of the same name.
The presence of insects must be indicated on the products
However, insect meals, when present in products, must be indicated on the packaging. As the Fake Off service explained in a previous article, the European Commission has given its approval for the distribution of several insects as food, such as the mealworm larva and the migratory locust. The most recent, which has caused a lot of discussion, is partially defatted cricket powder, authorized at the beginning of January 2023 in the European Union.
May present an allergenic risk, the presence of these insect powders must be indicated in the list of ingredients for prepackaged products (such as biscuits). This is what European regulations require, as well as French regulations, where “The ingredient must appear on the labeling in the list of ingredients of the food with a clear reference to the name of the allergen”.
For products that are not prepackaged, the presence of allergens must be made “in writing, near the product concerned, so that there is no doubt for the consumer”, specifies the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention.
The “frog logo”, target of conspiracy theories on the Internet
This video is not the only one to question the famous “frog logo”. On the Internet, numerous publications, in different languages, make similar claims. Some versions differ a little, claiming for example that the logo is a sign of the presence of “toxic GMOs”.
Behind these accusations, we find the philanthropic foundation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As shown on the foundation websiteit committed $5,343,025 in grants to the NGO Rainforest Alliance.
If the “Rainforest Alliance” certification is criticized, it is therefore because it is accused of being financed by the foundation, whose creator, former boss of Microsoft, is often at the heart of conspiracy theories, notably that of the New World Order.