Wood-eating torula have several things going for them as a sustainable, novel protein source. Wood is abundant, renewable and doesn’t compete with human food crops.

Torula yeast (Cyberlindnera jadinii) feed on woody biomass left as waste or residues from making wood products. Researchers can extract protein from those yeast. For pet food, torula yeast may have an advantage over other novel proteins. Torula yeast is already an approved ingredient, with a history of safe use, Ricardo Ekmay, PhD, vice president of nutrition for Arbiom, said in a video from Petfood Forum (below). In September 2019, Arbiom completed a 26-week feeding trial with dogs. The torula yeast protein performed on par with chicken meal. Read more.

Wall, Tim. “Safe History Helps Novel Protein from Wood-Eating Yeast.” PetfoodIndustry.com, PetfoodIndustry.com, 3 Sept. 2020, http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/9544-safe-history-helps-novel-protein-from-wood-eating-yeast.