Why Dog Treat storage is almost as important as the treat nutrition.

Natural dog treats proper storage is vital to maintaining the nutrition of your treats.

When it comes to dog treats storage, many home situations are found very lacking.  Much of this can be attributed to owners buying what’s on special at the local supermarket and assuming that the large number of preservatives will take care of everything.  But that unfortunately is far from the truth.

And the thing you should also know about this, is that some dogs will eat anything, at any time (not always food products).  So just because your dog will eat something, doesn’t mean that it is healthy, or ever was.

An extra note to this article is that it’s mostly about NATURAL dog treats (which typically means 100% single ingredient treats) – the ones that DON’T have preservatives.  And that is why you need to be aware of when you buy such great treats, how to maximise their benefit for your dog.

There are many basic ways that you can naturally keep healthy dog treats at their best, and that’s exactly what we are going to look at here.  The essential good dog treat storage guide for maximum health.

The main areas for keeping Treats fresh, are:

• Effect of treat exposure to oxygen
• Refrigeration or freezing options
• Desiccants

NATURAL DOG TREATS – exposure to oxygen

Often this also comes under the banner of “airtight containers’

The reason that we pack and seal dog treats (single ingredient) in plastic bags, just big enough to hold the treats, and then squeeze the air out, is to reduce the amount of air that they have access to.

This should ensure the reduction of air and moisture from entering the treats.

Air (or oxygen to be more precise) quickly age treats.  It kick-starts the process of disintegration or the meat returning to its most basic components.  This is what the dogs don’t need.  Also noting that any natural oils or fats in the treats will accelerate going off.  The rancid smell will put of the owners and possibly the dogs.  And possibly make your dog sick.

While dogs might bury their treats in the garden and dig them up weeks later, not all dogs have a good stomach for killing all of the bad bacteria.

The reason you are wanting to prevent moisture is that dog treats are typically dried to around 10% moisture.  This is an acceptable level to ensure palatability for your dog.  Too much more drying, and the treats are likely to fall apart.  Too much moisture promotes mold from forming.

The plastic bags that you get your treats in are often resealable ones, like better versions of ‘sandwich bags’ but after a few openings, these often get particles in the groove that prevent them from selling properly allowing the oxygen and moisture in.

That is why when you buy big packs of dog food, most people in the know transfer the dog treats to a large glass or plastic container that they can properly seal each time.

How long do sealed plastic dog treats bag protect the treats for?

Curiously even though single ingredient dog treats, usually come with NO preservatives or coloring, they can last as long if not longer than composite (plant based) dog treats.  And all composite dog treats require preservatives, unless they are used within a month or so.

Natural single ingredient dog treats can typically last between 6 and 12 months (for optimum taste) before they reduce in smell or quality.   And if you have to keep your treats that long, you might be buying the wrong type anyway.

What is vacuum sealing for dog treats about?

Vacuum sealing is notionally a good idea for dog treats, as it reduces the amount of oxygen in the bag before sealing.  But of course, that value only lasts until the first time you open the bag – so all it does is prolong shelf life, which is more about the retailer than you or your dog.

And you might also wonder what the value is, considering that most people don’t run around vacuum sealing all of their own food?

It’s a good idea, but it adds cost to the manufacture of the product, and the retail price.

Besides price, one of the major issues is many of the natural dog treats can be relatively fragile.  And the process of vacuum sealing them, pushes them together so hard, that they can fragment into crumbs.  We consider this issue so important (integrity of the treats) we send all treats in bio degradable bubble wrap.

Dog treats – and the issues of Refrigeration or freezing

You might cleverly note that we didn’t include the word BENEFIT in this title, because many times there are more issues than benefits.

The premise for refrigeration, is the same reason people keep their food in the fridge.  The belief that it will extend shelf life.  The belief that it will slow the growth of bacteria and mold.

But in practice we mostly find that the opposite is true.

On the bacteria issue, if you are buying treats that already have a large bacteria count, and you plan on your dog eating the treats within a week, then yes it might slow down the bacteria growth.

HOWEVER, this is why we mostly sell oven dried dog treats.  Heating for a sustained period of time, over 120 C will kill ALL bacteria.  Freeze drying, not so much.  In fact if dog treats are freeze dried using conventional methods, unless they are done below MINUS 70 C Celsius (minus 94 Fahrenheit), they will not kill all of the dangerous bacteria.

When natural dog treats (no preservative) are put into a refrigerator in a plastic bag, it often causes condensation.  The water content that comes out of the treats then promotes mold.

Likewise refrigerating treats (unless snap freeze dried) can also form ice crystals outside of the treats. When thawed, it can promote mold, or the crystals can break down the structure of the treats, or reduce the smell (the primary senses that dogs use to assess the value of a treat).

We find that refrigeration or freezing  (unless you are going to freeze for many months) does NOT tend to improve the storage life of treats.

Desiccants for dog treats

Desiccant packs are added to treat bags to absorb moisture.  They are relatively small in size, so don’t add much in weight, nor take up much room.  And primary to the quality of the treat, only absorb a little of the free moisture in the air, the don’t completely dry the treat out.

We use them in ALL of our packs as a value add to the treats for our customers.  The reason most companies DON’T use them, is that they want to save a few cents.  But for the cost of a few cents, they can keep your treats MUCH HEALTHIER.

CONCLUSION

Desiccant packs are one of the best ways to prevent mold from treats that might have a slightly higher moisture content.

 And just as importantly, we recommend owners to keep their treats in ‘pantry conditions’ – which also means temperature control.  Not only can excess heat spoil natural dog treats, but it can also promote mold.

You can’t always control the temperature in your pantry, so this is just one added layer of security for you and your dog!