Treats or Trick?!

"Who's a good dog? You're a good dog!" - Nine out of 10 times those words are followed up with a treat. Whether we are showing our furry friends love and affection or rewarding them for positive behavior, we literally shower our pets in treats. Pet Food Processing forecasts treat sales in the US will approach $10 BILLION in 2022 (globally that number was $33.2 BILLION in 2021)! Even more promising, the CAGR is forecasted to be 11.3% through 2030. The only group that enjoys treats more than us and our dogs are manufacturers. Treats have been a low cost, high profit item with manufacturing margins approaching 80% for some brands. They have historically been heavily processed with high palatability and little to no "benefit". Known for their "expandable consumption," treats have been a literal printing press for cash. A quick search on Chewy.com shows 5,468 dog treats available to online shoppers.

The Rise of Obesity in Pets - The Purina Institute often cites Larsen and Villaverde (2016) research stating that nearly 60% of dogs and 63% of cats are overweight or obese. Treats aren't the "smoking gun" here but they do play a significant role. Treats are considered "supplemental feeding" and as such should make up no more than 10% of your pet's daily caloric intake. Great! What an awesome measuring stick...what is my dog's daily intake? While there are lots of calculations to run and data points to be sought out, lets just work with the idea that a 50lb dog requires 700 kcals daily. One of the Top 3 most popular treats on Chewy.com is the original MilkBone treat. Each treat is 125 kcal and they suggest 1-2 treats daily. Quick math shows that this will deliver 250 kcal...roughly 36% of our dog's daily caloric intake. This means that every 3 days, our dog is getting 4 days of calories. Over the course of one year, our dog will consume the equivalent to 120 EXTRA days of calories. And at $0.13/treat (or $0.26/day), we won't even notice...but our dog will. Take a look at the ingredients (underlined for effect):

• Wheat Flour, Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Meat and Bone Meal, Milk, Beef Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT and Mixed Tocopherols), Salt, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Malted Barley Flour, Sodium Metabisulfite (used as a preservative), Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Brewers Dried Yeast, BHA (used as a preservative), Mixed Tocopherols (used as a preservative), Rosemary Extract.

The good news is that as consumers, we have become more health conscious on what we eat and this carries through to what we feed our pets. The bad news is that when there is interest from consumers, marketing puffery will quickly follow. Tree Top Inc and Mintel published survey results showing that pet owners prefer "solution based products" with the following "claims": Healthy Digestion (58%); Mobility Support (52%) and Skin and Coat Health (49%). Spoiler alert! If you search those "claims" on Chewy.com, you'll find 2,284 Digestion entries and 1,182 Skin & Coat items. Strangely, Mobility (which requires a bit more "proof" of efficacy) only has 280 items!

So What Comes Next? - The natural progression for treats (and food in general) is healthier, more natural and less processed offerings; specifically, "functional" treats. While this is by no means a new concept, the number of offerings and maladies "treated" is growing exponentially. Do NOT buy into the marketing hype...Do your homework! One Digestive Health treat states the following, "...provides the delicious and nutritious boost your pup needs to help keep a healthy digestive system. Formulated with probiotics, these treats support overall health." The feeding guidelines suggest 3-6 chews (9.3 kcal each) per day but don't say anything about the number of colony forming units (CFUs) of probiotics in the treats. Before spending $13 for a bag, it may help to know that a dog should get between 500 million and 1 billion CFUs daily to have any GI benefit. If you're a manufacturer touting the benefits of probiotics, don't you think you should 1) share the level of CFUs 2) the probiotic type(s) and 3) analytic proof of live cultures and counts?

The same burden of proof exists for all claims. As an industry (and as consumers) we've allowed ourselves to believe that anecdotal information carries the same value and weight as scientific data. I'm not saying that all functional treats are based in marketing puffery, just that as a consumer you need to be aware of what is being said and whether or not the company making the claims supports them (openly) with facts and data. Probiotics are great but 10 million CFUs don't do anything. Same thing with "dental" treats. Mechanical abrasion is fine but it does not have nearly the impact of no/low carb/starch treats in preventing plaque and tartar buildup.

Buyer Beware - Unfortunately there are several examples in each and every "functional" category. If a brand makes outlandish claims with "over the top" testimonials yet doesn't offer any details or substantiated scientific data, you may want to, at the very least, do some homework on them and their claims. Functional treats have a great future with lots of promise for the health of our pets. Don't fall prey to snake-oil marketing and when you find companies and brands that are transparent and effective, support them!