Pet gummy supplements are a growing market, but making them isn't the same as making human gummies. It takes specialized knowledge to create products that are safe, palatable, and effective for dogs and cats. At KorNutra, we've got the expertise to handle the unique challenges of pet supplement manufacturing.
Gummies vs. Soft Chews for Pets
The chewy supplement a pet brand launches is usually marketed as a soft chew rather than a gummy, and the two formats are made differently. Traditional gummies are set in a starch mogul system that boils gelatin or pectin at high temperature. Soft chews use cold extrusion, which keeps heat-sensitive actives stable and lets the formula hold together without the sugar or added filler a traditional gummy needs to keep its shape. For pet products, the soft chew is the dominant format: Mordor Intelligence's 2026 report puts soft chews at 48% of 2025 pet supplement revenue, and the treat-like texture is part of what keeps dogs and cats taking a daily dose.
What Makes Pet Gummies Different
Formulating gummies for pets is a whole different ballgame than human supplements. The focus is on safety and what each species actually needs.
- Pets Won't Eat What They Don't Like: Palatability is critical. We use pet-approved flavors like chicken or liver, and we avoid sweeteners like xylitol, which is highly toxic to dogs.
- Getting the Dose Right: Potency is adjusted based on animal weight and metabolism, which don't match human requirements at all.
- Some Ingredients Are Deadly to Pets: Ingredients that are safe for humans can harm animals; chocolate is a familiar example, so every component gets checked for animal consumption.
- Keep It Simple: Pet supplements usually target a specific area, like joint support, skin & coat, or calming, and come with short, straightforward ingredient lists.
What Changes on the Production Line
The manufacturing process needs separate rules to keep products safe and effective for animals.
- Keep It Separate: To avoid cross-contamination with human products carrying unsuitable ingredients, we use dedicated production lines or thoroughly sanitized equipment.
- Test for the Bad Stuff: Beyond standard quality controls, we test for contaminants that could harm pets and verify that the lower doses are exactly right.
- Packaging That Makes Sense: Packaging often includes resealable, moisture-resistant pouches and clear feeding guidelines based on pet weight. Child-resistant features may also be needed.
- Following the Rules (It's Not cGMPs): Pet supplements are regulated as animal food. That means FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine and state feed laws built on AAFCO's model regulations apply, rather than human supplement cGMPs. The FDA-AAFCO memorandum of understanding expired on October 1, 2024, so new ingredients now go through FDA's interim Animal Food Ingredient Consultation process.
A pet gummy and a human gummy differ at three points: which ingredients are allowed, what dose each animal needs, and which regulatory rules apply. The format, gummy or soft chew, matters less than those three.