Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Bond Pet Foods to Develop Sustainable Pet Food Protein – GWC Mag

Bond Pet Foods has 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 has also agreed to develop an additional animal protein alternative for use in Hill’s products.

Pets reportedly account for up to 30% of emissions associated with domestic meat consumption, so the newly developed protein intends to reduce reliance on animal production used to make pet foods. Bond has developed a fermentation technology to efficiently make 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.

This first, 2-ton shipment represents a step toward commercializing the emissions-reducing animal protein. With the delivered product, Hill’s may formulate a variety of products at its Pet Nutrition Center in Kansas. Data collected through the review will be used for later evaluation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and to make 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.”

Protein Alternatives Address Emissions 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 scrutiny for failing to reduce the industry’s massive carbon footprint.

Protein alternatives for human consumption have already been found to cause considerably fewer emissions than animal proteins. Good Food Institute claims that if alternative proteins were to make up half of the global protein market, including dairy, 5 gigatons of carbon emissions could be avoided each year, and land-use emissions would decline by 31%. Alternative protein production also uses less water and causes less pollution than raising livestock.

Bond Pets said that if dogs and cats in the United States alone were their own country, their meat consumption would rank fifth in the world. The company said its protein alternative offers the same nutritional benefits as meat, is highly digestible, and is made from widely available resources, but has a  considerably lower environmental impact than meat production.