Are Freeze Dried Dog Treats Raw?

October 16, 2026

Many are: a freeze dried treat made from uncooked meat is a raw treat, and the label should say so in plain words. Freeze drying takes water out of food, and it does not cook it.

The answer, then, is on the bag. This page covers what the word means, where to find it, and what to do in a kitchen once a bag of raw treats is in the house.

Raw means not cooked

Raw has one meaning in this context: the meat was not cooked at any point. It may have been cut, frozen and dried, but it never reached a cooking step. A freeze dried piece looks cooked, because it is dry, pale and crisp, and that is the trap. Dryness is not heat.

The raw feeding notice on this site says the same about every product here. Animal products that are freeze dried or air dried without cooking are treated as raw and handled that way, and the notice sets out the routine. You can read it at the raw feeding notice, and our page on how freeze dried dog treats are made shows why the process leaves a raw piece raw.

Raw also does not mean wet or soft. A raw freeze dried treat is as dry and as light as a cooked one, and the two can sit side by side in a bag with nothing to tell them apart by eye. The word describes the cooking history of the meat, never the feel of the piece.

What the label should say

A raw treat should be called raw on the bag, in the name, on the front or in the directions. Look for the word itself. A label that is vague about whether a freeze dried treat was cooked is a label to ask the maker about.

Sniff and Shift freeze dries beef tripe in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and that bag gets the same reading as any other: find the line that says how it was prepared.

Ingredient lists help too. A list of one meat, with no mention of cooking, is describing the piece as it came in. If a bag says cooked, baked or roasted anywhere in the name or the directions, it is a cooked treat. When the label says neither, take that as a question, not as a yes.

Handling raw treats in a kitchen

FDA's tips for handling pet food and treats say to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water before and after, and to wash bowls and scooping utensils with soap and hot water after each use. Raw treats are where that routine earns its keep.

In a real kitchen, that comes to four habits.

Wash your hands after you handle the treats, and wash the scoop you used.
Keep the bag off the counter where food for people is made, and in a closed cupboard or bin.
Close the bag fully after each use, since an open bag draws moisture and loses its crispness.
Keep the bag and the dog's eating spot away from young children.

Storage details, including how to keep an opened bag in good condition, are in the guide to how to store pet treats. We make no statement of our own about risk beyond the notice, and the notice is the document to read before the first bag.

Cooked first, then freeze dried

Some makers cook the meat and then freeze dry it. The treat is still crisp and light, and the label says cooked, so the word to look for is on the bag, not in the texture. A piece that was cooked first can feel drier in the hand and crumble differently, and the color is often paler or flatter than raw.

That is the trade off between the two. A raw freeze dried piece keeps the texture most people want from the form, and it asks for the kitchen habits above. A cooked first piece asks for the same hand washing, since any treat is handled with clean hands, and its label tells you what was done.

When you compare bags in the freeze dried dog treats collection, read each one for raw or cooked before you read anything else. It is the line that decides how the bag is handled, and it takes a few seconds.

Common questions

How can I tell if a freeze dried treat is raw?

Look for the word raw on the bag, in the name or in the directions. If the label says cooked, baked or roasted, it is not raw. If it says neither, ask the maker.