Comprehensive Dog Chew Study Indicates That Many Products Falsify Label Claims

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2022

BOULDER, CO – The Chew Safety Institute established by Chews Happiness® to research dog chew safety and investigate packaging claims transparency, completed a seminal (in‐vitro) chew safety and efficacy study that evaluated thirty‐two dog chews across ten chew categories.

The Study examined each chew across two chew safety dangers: obstruction hazard (the relative risk associated with a chew’s ability/inability to adequately break down in a dog’s digestive tract) and laceration risk (the tendency of a chew to fragment into sharp shards during chewing). Chew durability was also assessed.

Unfortunately, the Study found that only three chews tested (10.3%), including two DigestaBone® chews by Chews Happiness, can be considered safe. Eighteen chews tested (56.25%) claim “Highly Digestible” on their packages, yet none exhibited such digestive performance consistently. DigestaBone chews claim “Highly Digestibly Degradable” and testing supported DigestaBone’s claims as accurate.

Sixteen chews tested claim “Long‐Lasting” on their packages. Only four of these (25% of the ones claiming “Long‐Lasting”) were found to be highly durable. DigestaBone chews were the only two of these four to also exhibit high digestive performance, meaning the other two were not found to be safe.

Founder Tavor White explains, “There is only one logical conclusion one can draw: many chews, including popular chew types such as hard yak cheese chews which exhibited one of the worst digestive values, falsify label claims.”

% Digestive Degradability by Chew Category*
(Based on 32 chews tested)

Chews Happiness® will be launching DigestaBone®, the first all‐natural, highly digestibly degradable, durable dog chew, in June of 2022. The product of 8 years of R&D, DigestaBone® chews also support Digestive and Joint Health.

The Chew Safety Institute is an organization dedicated to dog chew safety research, packaging claims transparency, and dog guardian education. It conducts research on commercially available chews, as well as develops new chews that meet the most stringent safety standards. The Institute publishes original research to help pet guardians, veterinarians, retailers, and regulators make more informed decisions regarding chew safety and efficacy.

Chews Happiness is a social enterprise and business bringing wholesome, eco‐friendly, sustainably sourced, “beyond organic,” handcrafted, safety‐tested creations to dogs, supporting indigenous herders and small farmers in developing countries. Chews Happiness uses plant‐based packaging, is a top 20 ranking by the Pet Sustainability Coalition, is a certified ZERO carbon business, is a member of 1% For The Planet, and donates 1% (min) to animal rescue.