TORONTO — On April 18, CULT Food Science Corp. shared commercialization plans for its proprietary, patent-pending alternative protein source for pet food products: Bmmune™. Bmmune is produced through a natural fermentation process and is patented for use in freeze-dried pet treats.

CULT acquired the intellectual property from Because Animals earlier this spring, which included the company’s formulations — Bmmune being one of them — and two provisional patents related to its discontinued products.

“Because Animals retains all of its intellectual property relating to cultured meat — which is our core business — and we are committed to revolutionizing the pet food industry with this technology,” said Shannon Falconer, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Because Animals.

Bmmune is developed using nutritional yeast and koji, a fermented protein derived from fungus Aspergillus niger. The ingredient provides high-quality and sustainable protein to dogs and cats, with nutritional value similar to that of conventional meat, according to CULT. Aside from its protein value, Bmmune can also help promote digestive, gut, immune, cognitive, arterial and heart health.

The global pet food market heavily relies on farmed animal proteins, which face supply chain constraints and are not environmentally friendly. According to CULT, pet food products that contain farmed animal meat are estimated to emit about 64 million tons of greenhouse gasses annually. With Bmmune, CULT is determined to help advance sustainability in the pet nutrition industry.

“It is still difficult to create pet foods that deliver premium, palatable nutrition to dogs and cats and have a low carbon footprint,” said Joshua Errett, vice president of product development at CULT. “With Bmmune, we've solved at least part of this complex problem. We are now ready to supply Bmmune to plant-based and conventional pet brands as a way to enhance protein content, increase palatability, drive down ingredient costs and improve sustainability in pet foods.”

Pet foods formulated with Bmmune have shown to offer the same environmental benefits as plant-based proteins but with increased palatability, higher protein content and better absorption rates in dogs.

“This is one of many foundational patents that CULT Food Science will utilize to continue to build the future of food,” said Lejjy Gafour, chief executive officer of CULT. “The versatility of Bmmune will serve as a platform for multiple products.”

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