Do you read all your snack’s ingredient lists? What about your dog’s treats? Ever wonder what mixed tocopherols are for?
We’re breaking down the ingredient lists from our “clean” treat competitors and their purpose (and why our treats don’t need them).
Other brands aim for the “perfect” texture and look of their treats by adding vegetable glycerin to make them smoother and softer. Our treats can be crunchier than our competitors, but they’re also easy to break into smaller pieces, and we find that dogs love that crunch! Plus, we think our treats look perfect as they are, you can tell they’re real pieces of meat, rather than extruded unrealistic shapes.
So many meat based dog treats rely on preservatives like rosemary extract, celery juice powder, or mixed tocopherols (and worse) to make them last. Even if preservatives are “natural,” it’s still an added ingredient that might not agree with your dog. Air-drying our treats removes the need for any preservatives. If you think your bag of treats will last longer than a week or two in your house (we don’t think they will), we suggest keeping them in the fridge.
Any treats that add ingredients like wood smoke flavoring, sugar, or salt for taste are more likely to be covering up poor quality meat that a dog wouldn’t want to eat. Our meats are human-grade, and we all know dogs love human food. Plus added sugars or salt can be really detrimental to a dog’s health, the same way it is for humans.
Meat based treats that need added protein seem like an oxymoron. But some brands add soy protein isolate or rice protein to boost their protein numbers. Many dogs have soy allergies, just like humans. All of our treats are 68%-78% protein. Why not 100%? Meat inherently has fat, fiber and moisture in it as well.
Many brands mix their meat based treats with other whole food ingredients like carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin. This is a great way to reduce the price of making a treat, though not all brands pass on that savings to the customer. Our treats are priced fairly for the quality of their single ingredient.
