BioCraft Pet Nutrition has published the first publicly available safety dossier for a cell-cultured pet food ingredient. The document details the company’s safety assessment for its cultivated mouse ingredient, which is designed for use in dog and cat food.
The dossier is intended to increase transparency around cell-cultured ingredients. BioCraft said it voluntarily released the document even though current EU regulations do not require a pre-market ingredient-level safety assessment for cultivated pet food ingredients.
The ingredient is produced from a proprietary, non-genetically modified mouse embryonic stem cell line. It is grown in animal-free, food- and feed-grade media. The final ingredient contains non-viable cells and conditioned media, meaning no living cells remain in the finished product.
According to the company, the production cell line underwent extensive testing. Researchers assessed its identity, stability, and sterility. They also screened it for microbial contaminants, including mycoplasma and replication-competent retroviruses. Independent laboratory testing found the ingredient to be non-genotoxic under OECD Test Guidelines 471 and 487.
BioCraft also reported that levels of heavy metals, residual solvents, biogenic amines and other potential contaminants were below recognised regulatory limits. Additional studies, including molecular profiling and stress testing, found no evidence of a tumorigenic profile in the production cell line.
Shannon Falconer, founder and CEO of BioCraft Pet Nutrition, said public access to the dossier reflects the company’s commitment to scientific transparency. She added that making the data available will help manufacturers, regulators, and other stakeholders evaluate the safety of cultivated pet food ingredients using the same evidence reviewed by the company. She also adds that “My dogs are my children, and I speak for many pet parents when I say this.”
The publication follows another milestone for BioCraft. Earlier this year, the company registered to sell its cultivated ingredient to pet food manufacturers across the European Union. The registration allows BioCraft to supply its ingredient after meeting feed business operator requirements and notifying the EU Feed Materials Register.
Founded in 2016, BioCraft focuses on developing animal cell-cultured ingredients specifically for pet food applications. Last year, the company received regulatory registration in Austria to use Category 3 animal byproducts (ABPs). It enables it to sell its cultivated mouse pet food as an ingredient across the European Union after meeting feed business operator requirements and notifying the EU Feed Materials Register.
