If you have owned a dog for any amount of time the odds are pretty good that you’ve not only bought them delicious treats as a reward – but that you also contemplated taking a taste of those treats yourself (as long as nobody else was around, though).
Some of us, though, have gone the next step further and taken a little bite out of dog treats. There are even some people that eat dog treats on a regular basis as a “people snack”.
What about Trader Joe’s dog treats, though? Well, you’ll be glad to know that while there aren’t a ton of people out there buying these dog treats to feed themselves or their family it’s (for the most part) safe to snack on these treats every now and again.
Straight out of the gate, you should know that dog treats are specifically formulated to (no surprise here) meet the dietary and nutritional needs of the canine world – not human beings.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Dogs have different dietary and nutritional requirements than human beings and the people behind Trader Joe’s dog treats (and any other quality treat, for that matter) are going to come up with recipes that meet those requirements above all else.
Secondly, the kind of ingredients that get folded into dog treats are generally of a lower quality than what you might get at the grocery store. That just makes economical sense.
At the same time, though, you shouldn’t be nervous that the core ingredients are going to be unsafe for human consumption. The FDA requires that anything that can be fed to pets can also be fed to human beings, even if the safety rules and regulations for producing dog snacks (even at a great company like Trader Joe’s) are considerably more relaxed.
So while you could certainly get away with tasting these treats every now and again, you’re probably not going to want to make them a cornerstone of your daily diet.
At best, they aren’t going to meet your specific nutritional needs.
At worst, they may wreak havoc on your digestive system and trigger significantly more frequent trips to the bathroom.
Ingredients in Trader Joe’s Dog Treats
While the specific ingredients in Trader Joe’s dog treats are going to vary depending on the specific dog treat flavor and formula, there are a handful of core ingredients that almost all of these treats and snacks will include:
- Meat and poultry products
- Whole grains
- Vegetables and fruits
- Natural preservatives
Trader Joe’s has an excellent reputation for sourcing high-quality products to stock their shelves. Their dog treats are no exception.
The dog treats are going to be well-made from high quality ingredients, and are going to be comparable to the kinds of treats you could get from some of the bigger dog food brands on the market today.
As we have set a couple of times already, though, that doesn’t necessarily mean that these are something you’ll want to eat on a regular basis.
They will not ever meet human being nutritional requirements, that’s for sure. On top of that, they may cause you some digestive discomfort that can only be cleared up by feeding them to your dog exclusively.
To check the current price and availability of Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Flavored Dog Treats, click here to view the listing on Amazon.
Alternative Food Options to Dog Treats
When it comes to human safe alternatives to Trader Joe’s dog treats you’re going to have an almost unlimited amount of options to pick and choose from.
If you’re looking for human safe alternatives that have a similar taste and texture as the meat-based Trader Joe dog treats, you can’t go wrong reaching for high-quality jerky.
Beef jerky, turkey jerky, and chicken jerky are all wonderful options that come very close to dog treats from Trader Joe’s in a bunch of ways – except for the sodium content, maybe. Jerky wouldn’t be safe to give your animal, but you could eat it without a lot of worry or concern.
Dried fruit is another great human safe alternative to Trader Joe’s dog treats that you’ll want to think about stocking up on.
Dried apples, dried bananas, dried mangoes and other melons, and even dried berries can kind of mimic some of the Trader Joe’s dog treats you’ll find on the shelves of this grocery store – but they are all designed to be eaten by humans.
In some situations (when you’re dealing with dried fruit and no other additives or ingredients, especially no sugar) you might be able to share these dried fruits with your dog – right from the same bag – without any issue.
That’s something you’ll want to research further, though. Some fruits can wreak havoc on the digestive system of our furry little family members, and some are even poisonous.
Finally, peanut butter treats, biscuits, and crackers can all closely mimic some of the more popular Trader Joe’s dog treats on the market today.
These are all (obviously) human safe alternatives for sure!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Dog Treats Be Eaten by Humans?
The overwhelming majority of dog treats made in the United States (and adhering to FDA guidelines) are going to be safe for human consumption. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to eat a ton of them, though.
What Dog Treats Are Good for Humans?
The best dog treats for humans – from a safety standpoint – are going to be dog treats that include only high quality ingredients, as few additives and preservatives as possible, and come from reputable manufacturers only.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, (almost) everything you need to know about whether or not Trader Joe’s dog treats are safe for human consumption – and a whole run through of guaranteed human safe alternatives that you’ll want to consider instead.
Sure, snacking on or nibbling a Trader Joe’s dog treat every once in a while probably isn’t going to land you in the hospital. Take that to the extreme, though, and you can really do a number on your body, your health, and your digestive system in particular.
It’s a much better idea to stick to treats specifically designed for human beings, especially since finding options that are so similar to Trader Joe’s dog treats (but completely safe) is so easy.