Label reading
Four lines on our cheddar listing, read in turn
Updated
Our product listing gives the freeze dried cheese guaranteed analysis as four lines: crude protein at least 34 percent, crude fat at least 50 percent, crude fiber at most 4 percent and moisture at most 6 percent. Each is a floor or a ceiling by weight, not an exact figure.
What do min and max mean on a guaranteed analysis?
Min is a floor. When our product listing says crude fat min 50 percent, it is saying that at least half the weight of the product is fat, and the real figure may sit above that line. Max is a ceiling. A moisture maximum of 6 percent means no more than six parts in a hundred of the weight is water, and the real figure may sit below it.
Neither line is a measurement of the piece in your hand. The analysis is a statement about the product as sold, which is why each figure carries min or max rather than an equals sign. What min and max mean on a treat label is the same from one maker to the next: a boundary, not a reading from a scale.
Our listing runs protein and fat first, each with a minimum, then fiber and moisture, each with a maximum. Once you have seen that pattern on one bag, you can read it on any bag in about the time it takes to turn the bag over.
What does crude fat at least 50 percent tell you?
On our product listing, crude fat is given as a minimum of 50 percent. Read as a label line, that says one thing: at least half the weight of the dried cheddar is fat. It is the largest of the four figures.
It sits comfortably beside the energy figure. The bag label gives 148.9 kcal per ounce, which is a rich number, so we call the cheddar a rich treat. Since our listing says the pieces break smaller than they start, small is the sensible size to hand out.
What the line does not tell you is anything about your dog. A guaranteed analysis describes the product. It is not a recommendation, and it reads the same whether a dog gets three crumbs a week or a pocketful on training days. What the fat line means for a particular dog is a question for the person who knows that dog, not for a bag.
Why is moisture no more than 6 percent?
Because the water has been taken out, which is the whole idea of freeze drying. University of Minnesota Extension explains the method as freezing first and then drawing the ice off as vapor, and adds that the dried food pulls moisture back from the air easily (UMN Extension, freeze drying, opened 2026-10-16). The moisture line on our product listing records what is left in the cheddar: a maximum of 6 percent.
Our listing calls the finished pieces crunchy, and its storage advice is short: reseal the opened bag, keep it cool and dry, and skip the fridge. Put the two together and the instruction makes sense: the dryness is the point, so you keep the bag closed.
If you want to see how the drying step happens from start to finish, our guide to how the cheese is made walks through it.
Why can you not line these numbers up against fresh cheese?
Because fresh cheese still carries its water, and water dilutes every other percentage on a label. A slice from the fridge is partly water by weight, and that water counts in the hundred. Dry the slice and the water leaves, but the fat and protein stay, so each now makes up a bigger share of what remains. Same cheese, bigger numbers.
That is why a dried product's analysis looks dramatic next to a fresh one, and why the comparison tells you almost nothing. The fair way to set two labels side by side is on a dry basis, which is arithmetic neither label prints. We have no fresh cheese figures to offer, so we leave it here: read our four lines as a description of dried cheddar and nothing else.
The same logic holds for any maker. Compare dried with dried and fresh with fresh, and treat anything else as a different product with a different label.
Where do the calories fit next to the four lines?
The calorie figure is not one of the four, and on our product it comes from a different place. The percentages are on our product listing. The energy figure is printed on the bag label: 5,251 kcal ME per kilogram, or about 148.9 kcal in each ounce. ME stands for metabolizable energy, the usual way treat labels state calories.
The percentages describe what the cheddar is made of by weight. The calorie figure describes how much of a day an ounce uses up, and that is the number you budget with. VCA's rule of thumb keeps treats and snacks to about a tenth of daily calories, leaving the rest to a complete and balanced diet (VCA, Dog Treats, opened 2026-10-16).
Turning that tenth into ounces of cheddar is arithmetic on 148.9, and our treat budget guide does it in order. The product page has the rest. The bag says: pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes. Feed the cheddar as a reward next to a complete diet, never in place of one, and remember it contains dairy.
Questions
Why does the listing say crude protein and crude fat?
Crude is the usual word on pet food and treat labels for these lines. It refers to the lab method behind the figure, and it says nothing about the quality of the cheese or where it came from. That shared wording is what lets two dried products be read side by side.
Is the guaranteed analysis printed on your bag?
We credit it to our product listing, not the bag, and that is deliberate. We cannot read the percentages off our own bag photo clearly enough to say they are printed there, so we do not claim it. What the bag does carry is the ingredient line and the energy figure, 5,251 kcal ME per kilogram.
Do the four numbers add up to the whole treat?
No, and they are not meant to. Two are floors and two are ceilings, so adding them would give a range at best, and the analysis leaves out whatever no line covers. Read each line on its own. The listing describes boundaries, and it does not slice the bag into a pie chart.
Is 50 percent fat a lot for a training treat?
As a label line it is a high fat minimum, which is why we call the cheddar a rich treat. What that means for your dog is not something a label can answer. The practical side is the one our listing already points to: pieces start small and break smaller, and the cheddar is a treat rather than a meal.
What does crude fiber at most 4 percent mean?
It is a ceiling. By weight, no more than 4 percent of the product is crude fiber, and the real figure can sit anywhere below that. On a cheese treat it is the smallest of the four lines.
Why does moisture matter for a freeze dried treat?
It is the figure freeze drying aims at: water taken out, with a maximum of 6 percent left. It also explains the storage line on our listing, which is to reseal after opening and keep the bag cool and dry. Resealing after each handful is the easy habit that goes with it.