Among the many seals that a food can present, there is one that has attracted attention lately. This is the frog certificate or Rainforest Alliance Certified, around which a rumor has been created on social networks, where it is claimed that foods that carry this distinction contain insect flour among their ingredients.
But this symbol does not refer to the composition of the product: it indicates certain sustainability parameters established by the Rainforest Alliance organization. The foods that show this frog on the label have been produced under strict standards that seek to “protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.” , as established by the organization’s mission.
The seal has nothing to do with the presence of flour or insect derivatives. Although the marketing of foods or products made with these animals is permitted by the European Union, the regulation requires producers to indicate them on the labeling.
According to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), “the mention of an ingredient cannot be replaced by a pictogram, seal or drawing”, since everything must be explicitly written in the list of ingredients.
Although all the components of the food appear in the list of ingredients, stamps can be useful to make the composition clear. An example is olive oil, which is usually indicated on the front of the packaging.
