how are dog treats made
Have you ever looked into how your dogs treats are made?
There are three common methods that make our furry friends treats. Dehydrated, Air Dried and Freeze Dried.
They are all different methods of drying, but how do they differ?
Dehydrated
Dehydrated treats are cooked on a low temperature for long periods of time. This allows the treats to retain as much nutrients as possible. The final product is left with minimum moisture, extending the shelf life of the treat.
Air Dried
Air dried treats are very similar to dehydrated treats, but can take a longer period of time to process. The protein is laid out in a sterile environment where the air is circulated to initiate the drying process. There is no heat involved in the drying.
Freeze Dried
Did you know that freeze dried treats hold almost the same amount of nutritional value as the fresh version! The process of freeze drying involves freezing the protein so the water turns to ice. The pressure is then lowered to speed up sublimation. 98% of the moisture is removed during this step as it turns to water vapour. The treat then goes through a drying process using pressure to remove as much of the remaining moisture as possible.
THE DIFFERENCE?
The main difference in these processes is the use of heat. Some would say that dehydrated treats technically are not cooked because they are dehydrated at such low temperatures. You can however assume that most of these treats have been dehydrated at temperatures ranging from 40-70 degrees for long periods of time.
So in a sense, as it is a process that uses heat, the treats are being cooked and some nutrients are lost.
Air dried & freeze dried treats don’t use any heat therefore more of the nutrients are left in tact. In fact freeze dried treats have a very similar nutritional value to their raw self.