Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Bond Pet Foods Receive FDA No-Objection Letter for Yeast Ingredient

Bond Pet Foods, an innovative biotechnology company reimagining animal proteins through precision fermentation, and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a global leader in science-led pet nutrition, recently announced that Bond has received a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine Letter of No Objection for its Lamb Protein Yeast ingredient.

Developed in collaboration with Hill’s after completing a six-month longitudinal feeding study in dogs, FDA’s review and no objection to the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Notice marks a major milestone toward commercialization of a new source of high-quality animal protein for pet food.

Lamb Protein Yeast is the first ingredient to emerge from the Hill’s–Bond collaboration to successfully complete FDA’s GRAS Notice review process for healthy adult dogs, supporting use at inclusion levels of up to 15% of the finished food. This achievement follows several years of joint development applying precision fermentation—a proven technology long used to produce human food ingredients for cheesemaking, as well as enzymes and vitamins—to develop a carefully-selected animal protein ingredient with a complete amino acid profile that includes nutritional characteristics comparable to a traditional lamb protein.

“We are thrilled to achieve this important regulatory milestone with Hill’s,” said Rich Kelleman, Founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods. “The results of our six-month feeding study, together with the FDA’s Letter of No Objection, demonstrate the safety and nutritional performance of our brewed proteins and bring us a significant step closer to delivering a reliable source of high-quality protein for pets.”

Bond and Hill’s have also completed the feeding study in cats using Lamb Protein Yeast and are preparing to submit additional information to FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine in support of feline use. This work reflects the companies’ shared commitment to advancing science-based nutrition solutions for both dogs and cats.

“This achievement underscores our long-standing commitment to science-led innovation in pet nutrition,” said Dave Baloga, Executive Vice President, Science and Technology at Hill’s Pet Nutrition. “Lamb Protein Yeast expands the range of science-backed nutritional options we can deliver, supporting our sustainability objectives while maintaining the rigorous nutritional standards for which Hill’s is known.”

The Hill’s–Bond collaboration was first announced in 2021 with the goal of developing an alternative approach that meets the dietary needs of pets through established, science-based processes versus utilizing traditional animal protein ingredients. Key milestones along the way have included the successful commercial-scale production of Lamb Protein Yeast and the delivery of more than 25 metric tons to Hill’s facilities for formulation, testing and regulatory evaluation.

Bond’s precision fermentation platform uses optimized yeast cultures to produce proteins that are nutritionally comparable to those derived from conventional animal sources, providing a consistent, scalable and environmentally responsible protein source for pet food manufacturers.

With regulatory status for use in dog food, and work underway to support feline use, Hill’s and Bond are moving into commercialization in the US market, translating years of joint development into real-world application.