The Gourmet Dog Treat Option: Gourmet Dog Treat Labels are outlined below for those who are considering starting a dog treat bakery. And even if you’re not starting your own bakery, understanding what your gourmet baker knows can help you make more informed decisions. If you are the designer of your own sweets, we hope this section will be very helpful to you.
So you want to start your own gourmet dog treat business. Dog treat bakeries are becoming a booming business. Getting started can be very easy. You need some ingredients, some way to package or ship your products, and you need some basic kitchen equipment.
Since dog treats are intended to supplement a dog’s diet and not to be the complete source of a dog’s nutritional intake, all the strict requirements for dog food manufacturers do not affect treat manufacturers. For example, if you are preparing dog food, you should run feeding tests over several months or years to confirm that the dog food will adequately support the dogs. For the gourmet dog treat baker, you simply need to have proper labeling for your product. Product claims as all natural and organic are often made about dog treats.
This is where there are minimal expectations for dog treats. Our expectations (having been in the human food industry) are much higher than what is required in the dog treat industry. Rest assured that all the treats we make are labeled according to people’s food labeling requirements. We encourage you to do the same.
When you have your product, you will need to provide on its label:
Product name
Ingredient declaration (a list of all ingredients ** see our notes below)
Net weight (minimum weight of your package)
Your bakery contact information (name, address, phone number)
Minimum% of crude protein
Minimum% of crude fat
% Of maximum humidity
% Maximum crude fiber
Information on protein, fat, moisture, and fiber should be obtained by sending your product to a laboratory for analysis. This series of tests in a laboratory is called a proximal analysis. When we do our next analysis, we also ask for Ash’s content. This allows us to calculate the approximate amount of calories (kcal) in our treats. You are not required to do this, but it could be useful to your clients.
The cost of this test varies usually around $ 40, plus shipping costs. If you need to rush through these tests, most labs can do it for a much higher cost.
That ingredient statement
Regarding the ingredient statement, this is where we disagree with what is allowed today. Here we explain what most people do and how it differs from the human food industry.
Most gourmet bakers simply list the ingredients in the recipe. This is not an actual ingredient statement. What do i mean? Here is an example. Let’s say your recipe for gourmet dog treats has the following ingredients:
1 cup of wheat flour
1 egg
ΒΌ cup chicken broth
Most bakers will list their ingredient declaration this way on the labels of their gourmet dog treats:
Wheat flour, eggs, chicken broth.
And most bakers will call it “All Natural.”
However, if this were for human consumption, it would not be allowed to be called “All Natural”. Many of the flavors and chemicals in this product are not considered “all natural” by the FDA or USDA (government agencies of the food and meat industry). And ALL the ingredients should be listed. Chicken broth is NOT a single ingredient. It has many MANY things that are in it.
For example, if you used Swanson’s Chicken Broth in the Gourmet Dog Treat recipe above, this is actually what’s in your treat and how we recommend you label your treats:
Wheat flour, eggs and chicken broth (chicken broth, salt, MSG, dextrose, flavoring, hydrolyzed soy protein, carrots, hydrolyzed corn protein, celery, onion, chicken fat, sugar, disodium guanylate, extract autolyzed yeast).
Now all of these ingredients are fine for people to eat and probably your customers’ dogs too. But you may not want to feed your dog monosodium glutamate (MSG) if you don’t eat it yourself. The same can happen with your customers. If you don’t inform your customers that the chicken broth you use has MSG, how can they make an informed decision for their beloved pet? Again, the current requirements for gourmet dog treat labels would allow you to simply list “chicken broth.”
OUR POSITION: Regulations on gourmet dog treat labels are lacking and, in fact, may be contributing to the rise in canine obesity. If you can, we recommend that you include EVERYTHING in your treats, including the ingredients in your cheeses, broths, applesauce, and peanut butters.
