A statute allowing food producers to incorporate cricket powder into flour-based products will go into effect on Tuesday in the European Union.

The decision follows a review launched three years ago by the European Food Safety Authority regarding the use of partially defatted house cricket powder; the agency found that mass market consumption of the material is “safe under the proposed conditions” of use levels.

Cricket powder will now be permitted in a number of food products, such as multigrain bread, crackers, cereal bars, biscuits, beer-like beverages, chocolates, sauces, whey powder, soups, and other items “intended for the general population,” according to the new regulation. Cricket One, a company that asserts that the insects are “nutritionally more efficient” and serve as a more reliable “source of alternative protein” than livestock, submitted the original application.

The regulation also referenced “limited published evidence on food allergy related to insects in general” and connected Acheta domesticus, the species of house cricket in question, to several “anaphylaxis events.” The European Food Safety Authority concluded that “consumption of this novel food may trigger sensitisation” to the insect’s proteins and recommended further study.

Because evidence linking cricket powder to allergic reactions is “inconclusive,” the European Commission decided that no specific labeling requirements should be included in the EU list of authorized novel foods, according to the regulation.

The New York Allergy and Sinus Centers has nevertheless found that “several allergic reactions to crickets” have been reported in the past two years. Individuals allergic to shellfish such as shrimp, crabs, and lobsters “may develop an allergy to crickets” because the species share many of the same proteins. “While crickets are considered safe and healthy to eat, for those who are allergic, they pose a serious threat,” the group said. “When ingested, crickets can cause anaphylaxis and other serious reactions.”

Proposals for the increased consumption of crickets and other insects occur as many policymakers voice concern about the impact of meat production on climate change. Amanda Little, a professor at Vanderbilt University, asserted that the acceptance of insect consumption in the EU would not “translate to bugs in your burgers and mealworms in your macaroni,” but rather allow them to become a feedstock for other protein sources.

The World Economic Forum has frequently raised the possibility of finding alternative food sources to decrease carbon emissions.

“Insects are a credible and efficient alternative protein source requiring fewer resources than conventional breeding,” said one article from the organization. “Studies suggest that for the same amount of protein produced, insects, mealworms in particular, require much less land than other sources of animal proteins. A study on crickets suggests they are twice as efficient in converting feed to meat as chicken.”

Another article from the World Economic Forum claimed that the “demand for protein will exceed our ability to procure it” by 2050, even though similar claims from environmentalists have been repeatedly disproven over the past several decades.

“For our long-term survival, we’re going to need to increase our food output and decrease our carbon emissions at the same time,” the group said. “The answer requires real innovation about food production and what we think about food.”

Authorities on Sunday night searched the home of the 72-year-old man suspected of killing 10 and injuring 10 more in a mass shooting Saturday night in Monterey Park, California. The suspect fatally shot himself on Sunday morning.

The man, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy regarding mass shooters, opened fire inside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in a predominantly Asian community about 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Of those killed, five were men, and five were women, all pronounced dead at the scene, while the 10 wounded were taken to nearby hospitals, their conditions ranging from stable to critical. Seven remain hospitalized.

Multiple law enforcement agencies swarmed the man’s home to execute the search warrant, KTLA 5 reported. It is unclear what exactly police were searching for or what was found.

On Sunday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during a press conference that “everything is on the table” when it comes to the motive for the shooting.

“We don’t know if this is specifically a hate crime defined by law, but who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people,” Luna said.

The suspect reportedly was a regular at the dance studio he targeted, who at times provided “informal” dance lessons, CNN reported, though it is unclear whether he had been to the studio in recent years. The outlet also noted that the suspect met his ex-wife at the same studio. The suspect reportedly saw her dancing and introduced himself, and the couple married a short time later.

The suspect filed for divorce in 2005, and it was finalized in 2006.

The ex-wife told CNN that the suspect was never violent toward her but was quick to anger. If she missed a step while dancing, he would become angry.

An acquaintance of the suspect also told the outlet that he complained back in the early 2010s that the instructors at the dance studio said “evil things about him” and reportedly didn’t like him. The friend said the suspect was “hostile to a lot of people there.”

The Daily Wire previously reported that half an hour after the Star Ballroom shooting, the suspect attempted to enter a second dance hall, but two people managed to wrestle the gun from him. The suspect fled in a white cargo van. Authorities recovered a pistol from the scene and released a bulletin seeking the public’s help in finding the suspect.

Twelve hours later, police approached a white cargo van 20 miles southwest of Monterey Park, Reuters reported. When officers neared the van, they heard a single gunshot from inside and found the suspect had killed himself.