Arcadia Biosciences Inc., an agricultural technology company, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Arcadia’s application to amend relevant regulations to permit the use of seed meal from the company’s high gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) safflower seed in animal feed. The FDA concluded that the data provided by Arcadia establishes the safety and utility of this safflower meal for use in cattle and poultry feeds.
Arcadia’s GLA safflower seed is processed to produce nutritional oils with more than 40 percent GLA. These oils are marketed by Arcadia under the SONOVA brand and are used in nutritional supplement products for humans. GLA has multiple clinically demonstrated nutritional and medical benefits, including anti-inflammation, improved skin condition and healthy weight management.
Seed meals are the ground residues obtained after processing seeds to extract their oil and are common ingredients in livestock feed. This approval provides an additional market for byproducts from SONOVA GLA safflower oil production.
“The FDA’s approval of Arcadia’s safflower meal in animal feed opens up an entirely new market for us and improves the overall production economics of GLA safflower oil,” said Eric Rey, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences. “This approval, in addition to the recently announced Argentinian approval for Stress-Tolerant Soybeans and completion of the FDA Early Food Safety Evaluation of our Nitrogen Use Efficiency trait, demonstrates Arcadia’s strong regulatory capabilities and commitment toward creating the greatest possible value for our entire trait portfolio.”
With this most recent FDA approval, Arcadia will immediately begin marketing its safflower meal to animal feed manufacturers. The company has been marketing GLA safflower oil under its SONOVA brand since 2010.
