“Pigs in a blanket dog treats” what’s in them?

Google trends app highly rates two variations of the“meaty dog treats in a blanket” term (under dog treats category) in the top 5 related queries in America in Sep – Nov 2025. And the interest shows no sign of stopping. Want to know the reason why?

Firstly, the word MEAT would suggest that these are mainly meat, and ‘in a blanket’ aims to have a luxurious feel like canapes in the Hamptons.  But of course, American Marketing and reality/ health are typically poles apart, especially in the dog treat world.

Google tells us that “ ‘Random’ Meat in a blanket” refers to “commercial dog snacks that look like the human appetizer, often with a beef or chicken centre and a cheese or chicken-flavoured outer layer.”

Essentially, they look like little pastry cylinder rolls, light pastry colour on the outside, and a solid gummy substance inner. Nothing that is Meat, or looks like meat. And so only the tiniest of that most sought after animal protein.

The beef brands often tout things like “Cheese-flavoured outside with beefy centre”

However, since aafco (American rules our dog food makers follow as a law) do not require any ingredients to have percentages or even a nutrition break down, like % of protein, it makes it VERY easy for new fads to discuss how unhealthy these treats are.

And dog treats don’t even have a bare minimum list of nutrition that a treat needs to meet.  That is why following such trends are so awful for your dog.

These are the kinds of treats that has google perpetuating the slogan like a truth that only 10% of a dog’s diet should be treats.  But like any raw feeder knows. If the treat is a single ingredient MEAT, that percentage can easily be pushed to 50%.

But here is a sample ingredient of one of the leaders In this latest fad. Showing you why many dog food companies put such a heavy restriction on treat amounts, especially when they make them and know what’s in them.

TYPICAL ‘meat in a blanket’ Ingredients

Wheat Flour, Beef, Soy Flour, Corn Syrup (essentially a mix of different SUGARS), Water, Propylene Glycol, Dried Cheese, Liver, Animal Fat (  A Preservative), Chicken By-product Meal (NOT quality chicken meat), Calcium Sulphate, Potassium Chloride (a salt), Salt (a generic salt), Phosphoric Acid, Vegetable Oil (A Preservative), Titanium Dioxide (Colour), Garlic Powder, Sorbic Acid (A Preservative), Potassium Sorbate (A Preservative), Natural Smoke Flavour, Citric Acid (A Preservative), COLOURING ADDITIVES Yellow x, Red z Yellow y, BHA (Another Preservative), Lactic Acid,

What you need to know:

THE TOP FOUR INGREDIENTS

Ingredients are required to be listed in order of weight, but just like dog food, there is the great trick of ‘ingredient splitting’.   Like most kibble, wheat or vegetable matter is much cheaper than meat, and is the main ingredient by weight.

Beef is listed as the second ingredient in most ‘meat in a blanket’ “treats”  but it could be as low as 5%, with soy flour and corn syrup (SUGAR) each at 4%.  Beef is guaranteed to be an MDM version, ie the cheapest legally known beef offering that manufactures can still call beef.

Because we don’t know any of the percentages Beef could be almost as high as 48%, but to maximise manufacturer profits, and pay for all that marketing, this is HIGHLY unlikely.

DRIED CHEESE comes in as the SEVENTH highest ingredient, even behind moisture content listed as FIFTH, and like MDM meats, the quality of cheese, that thin layer is likely not to be of human grade. And is likely to be VERY Processed.

The treat also includes MANY PRESERVATIVES (single ingredient meat has NO PRESERVATIVES), and there are THREE COLOUR additives in just ONE treat !

Don’t even get me started on “Natural Smoke Flavour”.  How could this be in such a physical weight that it actually is listed separately on the ingredients list?

CONCLUSION

If you have ever wondered what “meaty dog treats in a blanket” might contain, and why its exactly like these treats that give actually HEALTHY dog treats a fake limitation on how much dogs can eat.  There you have it.

Feel free to do your own research.  The conclusions are inescapable.

At healthy Dog Treats, do sell dog training treats that are not only meat, but these typically have around 5 ingredients at most.  They have a LARGE amount of meat compared to biscuits and are often as much as many dog kibbles on the market. 

Having a low number of ingredients means that you are not buying from a manufacturer who is using smoke and mirrors, or things to disguise the taste (because it’s basically a high grain, low meat content fad).

It is likely that any of these leading American companies use more revenue for marketing than we make in selling our entire range, but that’s the difference between companies that are there just for the money, and companies like ours that care for a dog short term, and long-term health.

Treats shouldn’t be based on what they look like or what they sound like, because they are essentially being sold for a dog to eat.  They SHOULD actually be good for them. 

A dog will get far more natural highs and enjoyment as well as health benefits from ANY single ingredient treat, than they will from these grain, sugar and fat-loaded Frankenstein’s creations, made to appeal to owners as a luxury item, not to dogs as a tasty healthy dog treat.