Ingredient file // Flavor
Dried Honey
A sweetener in powder form, not a remedy
Dried honey is honey with the water taken out, usually with a carrier added so it will dry into a powder. In dog food it adds sweetness and a friendlier label word for sugar, and little else.
- What it is
- Honey with its water removed, usually dried onto a carrier such as maltodextrin to make a sweet powder.
- Made from
- Bee honey, usually plus a starch-based drying aid
- Main job
- Sweetness and flavor
- Typical amount
- Not published
- Watch for
- Added sugar for diabetic or overweight dogs
- Not the same as
- Raw honey or manuka honey
Our read // In our catalog
In 1 of every 2473 foods we track
Share of foods that list it
0%
1 of the 2,473 foods with an ingredient list on file, from 1 brand. All wet dog food.
Each square is 1% of the catalog
Where it sits on the label
Median position 5. In the top five of 1 food, so it is usually a main ingredient.
Who leans on it
100%
of the foods that list it are from Evanger's. 1 brand use it in total.
What it is
How it is made
Dried honey comes from the beekeeping trade. Liquid honey is sticky and hard to weigh into dry mixes, so processors dry it into a powder that pours and blends like flour.2,3,4
- 01 // Source Liquid honey The international standard allows up to 20% water and requires at least 60 g of fructose plus glucose per 100 g.
- 02 // Process Carrier blended in Honey's sugars are too sticky to dry alone. One study added maltodextrin at 50% of the honey's weight.
- 03 // Process Spray dried The mix is sprayed into hot air at 170 °C inlet temperature, which drives the water off.
- 04 // Output Dried honey A pourable sweet powder at about 3.6% moisture, part honey and part carrier.
What is in it
Composition, dry matter
99
% sugar
The sugar share of honey once its water is gone. Drying removes water, not sugar, so the powder is essentially sweetener.
Why it is in the bag
What the manufacturer gets
-
01
Sweetens the recipe
Dogs carry a working sweet taste receptor that responds to simple sugars. Honey is almost all fructose and glucose, so a small amount reads clearly as sweet.1,5
-
02
Handles like a dry ingredient
Liquid honey is sticky and clumps. Dried onto a carrier, it pours, weighs and blends with other dry ingredients, which is the only reason to dry it.2,3
-
03
A friendlier word for sugar
Honey reads better on a label than sugar or syrup. Its sugars are the same fructose and glucose, so the gain is in marketing, not nutrition.1
How much No source we found publishes a typical amount, and no dog trial has tested dried honey in a complete food; as a flavoring it sits low.
Our read // The claims
What the evidence supports
Strong: controlled studies in dogs agree. Some: small or mixed dog data. Thin: mechanism or lab work only. None: nothing, or the evidence points the other way.
-
Critics say
Sugar in dog food leads to diabetes
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
In a 32-dog study, 16 weeks of an overfed diet that was 53% fat, with 17% of calories from fructose, halved insulin sensitivity. A flavoring dose of honey in a balanced food is nothing like that diet.9
-
Brands say
Dogs love the taste of honey
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
The only support is mechanism: dogs carry a sweet receptor that simple sugars activate, and honey's dry weight is about 99% sugar. No published study shows dogs prefer honey or foods flavored with it.1,5
-
Owners say
Honey is antibacterial and helps dogs heal
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
The dog evidence covers honey spread on wounds, and it is weak: in a controlled trial of 12 dogs and 12 cats, manuka did worse on surgical incisions than a medical wound product. No study tests eaten, dried honey.10
-
Owners say
Local honey eases seasonal allergies
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
In a randomized trial of 36 people, neither local raw honey nor commercial honey relieved allergy symptoms more than a corn syrup placebo. There are no dog studies, and dried honey in a bag is not local.6
-
Brands say
Honey is a healthier sugar than table sugar
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
Honey's sugars are mainly fructose and glucose, about 41 and 36 g per 100 g, the same two sugars table sugar splits into. No dog study shows honey beating sucrose on any health measure.1
Straight answers
What owners ask
-
Q01
Is it just filler?
No, it's flavorFiller implies no job. Dried honey has one: it sweetens food for an animal with working sweet receptors. It adds calories as sugar, but no meaningful protein, fiber or minerals.1,5
-
Q02
Is dried honey pure honey?
Often notHoney's sugars are too sticky to dry alone, so makers blend in a drying aid. In one study maltodextrin went in at 50% of the honey's weight. The ingredient name does not tell you the ratio.2,3
-
Q03
Can it give my dog botulism?
Very unlikelySpores do turn up in honey: one survey isolated 19 strains from 250 samples. Dogs can get botulism, but the Merck manual calls them relatively resistant and notes very few reported dog cases.7,8
Who uses it
Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps
Top brands, by foods that list it
Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it
- Chicken 100%
- Potato Flour 100%
- Flaxseed 100%
- Coconut Glycerin 100%
- Blueberries 100%
- Cranberries 100%
- Carrots 100%
- Dried Egg 100%
On the shelf
Foods that list it
1 foods in our reviews list it. Here are some of them.
Our read // On the bag
Read it as sugar and move on
Low in the list, behind the meats and starches, dried honey is a pinch of flavor and nothing more. Ignore any health claim built on it. If your dog is diabetic or on a weight plan, count it as added sugar and raise it with the vet who manages the insulin or the diet.
Sources
What we read
Checked October 1, 2026.
- 1 Honey (FDC ID 169640, SR Legacy)
- 2 Development and Characterization of a Nutritionally Rich Spray-Dried Honey Powder
- 3 Maltodextrin-incorporated-vacuum-dried honey powder: processing and stability
- 4 Appendix II. Draft Revised Standard for Honey
- 5 Insights to Study, Understand and Manage Extruded Dry Pet Food Palatability
- 6 Effect of ingestion of honey on symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis
- 7 Clostridium botulinum in honey: prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of isolated strains
- 8 Botulism in Animals
- 9 A high-fat and fructose diet in dogs mirrors insulin resistance and β-cell dysfunction characteristic of impaired glucose tolerance in humans
- 10 First-Intention Incisional Wound Healing in Dogs and Cats: A Controlled Trial of Dermapliq and Manuka Honey
- 11 Diets for Diabetic Dogs