International company Unibio announced that its product Uniprotein has been officially approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) for use in aquaculture applications. Following a comprehensive review process that began two years ago, in April 2023, the SFDA has confirmed the safety of Uniprotein for use in feed for fish, shrimp, and crustaceans.
“We are pleased to announce that Uniprotein has been approved for aquaculture applications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This is a significant step into KSA, a key region that is working towards feed and food self-sufficiency under the Vision 2030 program, while increasing local fish production,” said Olivier Hartz, CCO at Unibio.
With this approval, Uniprotein is now cleared for sale to the Saudi feed industry and can be tested under commercial conditions, reinforcing the significant benefits of microbial single-cell protein.
Already in the EU, Japan, India, Thailand, Russia and Chile
Now, Saudi Arabia has joined a growing list of countries where Uniprotein has been already approved for use in animal feed. The list includes several territories such as the European Union (EU), Japan, India, Thailand, Russia, and Chile. The expanding list of approvals highlights confidence in Uniprotein as a safe protein source in regulated feed markets.
Technology Scaled Up
Unibio is a leading sustainable protein company, that has developed a fermentation technology – the U-Loop – to produce Uniprotein, a high-quality protein. The technology which has been scaled up to an industrial scale and is being rolled out globally, uses methane, such as natural gas and biogas as feedstock. It is Unibio’s mission to become the food of the future through the provision of secure and sustainable protein for farming and fishing feed.
Unibio’s technology is highly resource efficient and sustainable. The process replicates the same process that happens every day in nature. Unibio is headquartered in Roskilde near Copenhagen in Denmark, where it also has its Research & Development centre. Unibio’s Innovation center with a pilot and demo plant is located in Kalundborgwest of Copenhagen.
Unibio’s patented U-Loop technology uses a continuous-flow fermentation process to mimic a process that occurs in nature every day and uses gases, including methane to produce Uniprotein. Through its proprietary process, microbes grow with methane as feedstock, and they are turned into single-cell protein – Uniprotein that is subsequently treated and purified to a nutritious, high-quality feed grade. Unibio owns the intellectual property rights to the U-Loop technology.
Unibio, a world’s leading sustainable protein company, uses microbial fermentation to convert methane into high quality and sustainable protein for fish and animal feed. “It is Unibio’s mission to deliver sustainable protein for livestock, aquaculture, and the food of the future. Unibio’s technology is highly resource-efficient and sustainable,” they say.
High-Quality and Sustainable Protein
Uniprotein is a high-quality and sustainable protein on par with other high-quality proteins such as fishmeal and soy protein. The amino acid profile for the product is very close to fishmeal. Uniprotein has been approved for feed for terrestrial and aquatic animals in the EU and registrations globally are in progress.
Uniprotein has a high uniform quality, is free from pesticides, is fully traceable, and is non-GMO. The product has been introduced commercially, drawing significant interest from customers from all over the world. The product is in development for direct human consumption.
According to the company, Uniprotein is a superior protein product known for single cell protein approved for animal and fish feed in the EU; a high protein content – above 70% in dry matter; sustainable (alternative) protein; usable as a direct supplement in animal feed compounds; a highly digestible feed; in industrial-scale production; amino acid composition similar to fishmeal or soybean meal; non-GMO; deforestation-free and land conversion-free source of protein; free from contaminants like pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and antibiotics; easily traceable; uniform product quality; a long shelf life; and comes as powder or pellets.
