Pets like cats and dogs have a particularly keen sense of smell and taste, as such flavorings can also help make nutritionally valuable but less appealing food ingredients more palatable. WACKER offers high-performance solutions for such applications. As a global supplier of ingredients for the food industry, the company also develops and manufactures ingredients for innovative pet-food formulations.
WACKER’s FERMOPURE® VEGAN L-CYSTEINE and FERMOPURE® NATURAL L-CYSTINE are plant-based products that are used in pet food as flavor precursors and flavor components. During production, they react with reducing sugars in what is known as the Maillard reaction, producing characteristic meaty and savory flavors. The vegan products have been successfully established in the food industry for years. As the largest Western manufacturer of L-cysteine and L-cystine, WACKER is now expanding its range of applications to include pet food. These solutions are highly effective even at low doses and are suitable for various dosage forms such as liquids, chewable products, tablets, or powders.
WACKER has received approval from the European Commission for its amino acids L-cystine and L-cysteine as sensory additives for all animal species. This opens up an important market for the company, which has been supplying ingredients for pet food in the U.S. for more than 10 years. With the approval of L-cysteine derived from fermented L-cystine for use in animal feed for all animal species, WACKER occupies a unique position in the EU market.
Christian Hauk, Head of BioIngredients at WACKER’s Biosolutions business division said, “With the new EU approval, we are expanding our range of pet food products in Europe to include amino acids produced through fermentation. This ensures that our customers receive products made from plant-based raw materials that are of the highest quality and fully traceable.”
The approval was also preceded by a positive safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). This provides pet food manufacturers with a clear regulatory framework for the use of FERMOPURE® products for all animal species. The approval covers FERMOPURE® NATURAL L-CYSTINE PET FOOD as well as the following product variants of FERMOPURE® VEGAN L-CYSTEINE PET FOOD: L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate, L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate 20 mesh, L-cysteine hydrochloride anhydrous, and L-cysteine free base.
WACKER produces FERMOPURE® through fermentation using plant-based glucose. In this process, L-cystine is produced using a suitable production strain of E. coli bacteria and then purified. For L-cysteine, there is one more step: L-cystine is reduced to L-cysteine through electrolysis. Unlike conventional manufacturing processes, the production of the L-cystine used in FERMOPURE® is based on a natural biotechnological process. This enables sustainable production without animal-based raw material – an alternative to conventionally sourced L-cysteine.
According to Global Market Insights Inc., the global market for pet food and treats was valued at US$145.2 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to US$259 billion by 2035. The European market alone was valued at US$43.2 billion in 2025.
