We get it: when you spot ‘maltodextrin' on an ingredient list, it can raise eyebrows. Here’s the story behind why it shows up in Totoniks and what it really means for your dog.
Real venison blood is our hero ingredient. It’s packed with nutrients but it’s naturally rather sticky, which makes it hard to turn into a clean, free-flowing powder. To fix this, we use a tiny amount of a natural processing aid to make the powder easy to handle, otherwise it would clump up. While most companies use corn-based maltodextrin, which is often GMO and glyphosate-heavy, we went to great lengths to avoid that, so ours comes from cassava root, a clean and natural source.
As for our labelling, here's the technical bit: ingredient lists must appear in order of weight at the time of mixing. Maltodextrin is denser than many of our superfoods, like green-lipped mussel. So even though it’s only a pinch, it looks more prominent on the label than it truly is.
In practice? A daily serving for your dog contains just 0.32-0.56% maltodextrin. That’s less than a crumb in their bowl, with virtually no calories.
We definitely don’t use maltodextrin to bulk out our formula, or to sneak in some carbs. It’s simply there to make sure your dog can enjoy the incredible benefits of venison blood, without any mess.
