Bond Pet Foods made a shipment of its sustainable animal protein to Hill’s Pet Nutrition, where the ingredient will be tested for commercial use in pet foods. Bond also agreed to develop additional animal protein alternatives for use in Hill’s products.
Pets are reported to generate up to 30% of the emissions associated with domestic meat consumption, so the newly developed protein aims to reduce reliance on animal production used to make pet foods animal Bond developed fermentation technology to efficiently produce protein used in pet food without having to raise and process farm animals. The technology reportedly builds on a long-established process used to create enzymes for products ranging from cheese to vitamin B12.
The first, 2-ton shipment represents a step toward the commercialization of animal protein that reduces emissions. With the delivered product, Hill’s can develop a variety of products at its Pet Nutrition Center in Kansas. The data collected through the analysis will be used for later evaluation by the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and to create prototypes for further market assessment.
“Hill’s is known for its leadership in precise, complete and balanced science-based nutrition, said Dave Baloga, executive vice president of science and technology for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. “We are excited to continue our relationship with Bond and support their truly novel approach to produce animal proteins in a more sustainable way that meets our high quality standards.”
Alternative Proteins Address Releases Caused by Livestock Production
Methane generated from livestock production accounts for about 32% of human-caused methane emissions, and meat and dairy producers have come under fire for failing to reduce their massive carbon footprint. of industry.
Alternative proteins for human consumption have been found to cause fewer emissions than animal proteins. The Good Food Institute says that if alternative proteins made up half of the global protein market, including dairy, 5 gigatons of carbon emissions would be avoided each year, and land use emissions would decrease by 31% . Alternative protein production also uses less water and causes less pollution than raising animals.
Bond Pets says that if only dogs and cats in the United States were their own country, their meat consumption would be fifth in the world. The company says its protein alternative offers the same nutritional benefits as meat, is highly digestible, and is made from widely available resources, but has a lower environmental impact than meat production.
