Preservatives in dog treats: what they do, and why a dried treat doesn't need one

Nothing on a Pudel label is there to stop the treat going off, and that is not a gap in the recipe. It is the recipe. A preservative has one job: to keep something moist from spoiling. Take the water out of a cut of meat slowly and completely and there is nothing left for that job to be done on. That is why a bag of naturally dried beef jerky lists beef and stops, with no number in brackets after it. The cleanest way not to need one is to remove the reason it exists.

What do preservatives in dog treats actually do?

Two jobs, usually. The first is holding back microbes. Bacteria, yeasts and moulds need water to grow, and the FDA's guide on water activity notes that most foods sit above 0.95 on that scale, comfortably wet enough for growth. A soft, moist treat lives in that zone, so it needs something to hold the line: a preservative to slow microbes, an acidity regulator, or a humectant that binds the water so microbes cannot use it. Glycerol is the usual humectant in soft treats, and it is the reason a soft jerky bends where a dried one snaps.

The second job is stopping fat going rancid. Fat oxidises in air, rancid fat smells and tastes stale, and dry foods with a decent fat content often carry an antioxidant to slow that down. The synthetic options include BHA and BHT. The natural one is mixed tocopherols, which is vitamin E, sometimes with vitamin C added to recharge it (MSD Veterinary Manual). On an Australian label these additives are declared by class and then name or number, "preservative (220)" or "antioxidant (320)", the format Food Standards Australia New Zealand sets for human food and the style most pet treat labels follow.

Why doesn't a naturally dried treat need one?

Because the water is gone. Drying is preserving, the oldest method there is. Once a cut has been dried slowly in moving air until it is firm right through, its water activity drops below the point where bacteria and mould can get going. The FDA draws that line at 0.85 or lower for foods that keep without refrigeration, and shelf stable jerky is dried to sit under it. That is the whole reason a dried treat lives in a cupboard and a fresh one lives in a fridge. Nothing has to be added to stop spoilage, because spoilage has nothing to work with.

Fat is the remaining question, and it is one reason a lean cut such as kangaroo jerky dries and keeps so well: less fat means less for oxidation to work on. The other half is the bag: sealed, it keeps air and moisture out, which is the job a preservative would otherwise do. Open it and the clock starts, gently. Sealed, cool and dry is the rule from then on.

What should you look for on the label?

Read past the cut. If the ingredient line says "beef liver" and ends there, there is no preservative, and the front of the bag should say the same. If the line carries on with a class word and a number, the treat needed help to keep: "preservative", "humectant", "antioxidant", "acidity regulator". None of those words makes a treat unsafe. The point is that you can see what was added and ask why.

One group is worth a harder look. The RSPCA advises against raw meat products sold as pet food, along with sausages and cooked manufactured meats, because they can contain sulphite preservatives, and sulphite induced thiamine deficiency has been behind many pet food safety incidents, some of them fatal. On a label, sulphites sit in the 220 to 228 range. A dried single protein treat has no reason to carry one, and ours never will.

None of this changes how much to feed: treats stay under about 10% of the day's food, however clean the label. Everything in the Pudel range is one named cut, naturally dried, with nothing added before, during or after. The label is short because the process did the work.

Every dog is different. For an ongoing issue, your vet is the first call. This is general information, not veterinary advice.

Keep reading: What does 'naturally dried' mean on a dog treat? Our process, plainly · How to store air-dried dog treats: cupboard, not fridge

Sources

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Water Activity (aw) in Foods. Inspection Technical Guide. fda.gov
• Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Additives. foodstandards.gov.au
• RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase. What should I feed my dog? kb.rspca.org.au
• MSD Veterinary Manual. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. msdvetmanual.com

Pudel · Reviewed September 2026 · Single protein, naturally dried dog treats, made in Australia. General information, not veterinary advice.