What’s in it
The top ingredients, in order: Chicken, Oatmeal, Brown Rice, Cane Sugar, Potatoes, Vegetable Glycerin, Pea Protein, Flaxseed (Omega 3 & Omega 6), Water, Natural Flavor, Salt, Fish Oil (DHA), Natural Smoke Flavor, Dried Cultured Milk, preserved with lactic acid and mixed tocopherols, with oil of rosemary for stabilization. Each Blue Bit is approximately 4 kcal. The product carries the AAFCO “intermittent or supplemental feeding only” statement.
Blue Buffalo markets Blue Bits on an “all life stages” training-treat positioning, with the DHA-from-fish-oil claim as the product’s functional differentiator — DHA supports cognitive development in puppies and cognitive maintenance in senior dogs. The soft-moist texture is achieved through the cane sugar + vegetable glycerin + water combination acting as humectants.
The good stuff
Named chicken as the first ingredient is the right starting point for a training treat. Our rubric awards +12 for a named whole-muscle meat first, and Blue Bits earns that cleanly — this is real chicken, not chicken meal or chicken by-product meal. Shop on Amazon →
Fish oil (named DHA source) at position twelve is an uncommon inclusion in the training-treat category. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is a long-chain marine omega-3 with documented cognitive, retinal, and cardiovascular benefits. The AAFCO minimum for puppy large-breed diets includes DHA, and research from Heinemann 2008 and Zicker 2012 supports DHA’s role in trainability, memory, and cognitive aging. The dose in a single Blue Bit is modest, but stacked across a training session it’s additive to the dog’s overall DHA intake.
Flaxseed at position eight provides plant-source omega-3 (ALA), plus fiber. Combined with fish oil, the treat delivers a mixed omega-3 profile that goes beyond what competitor training treats typically offer.
Natural preservation (lactic acid, mixed tocopherols, oil of rosemary) and no artificial colors or flavors. Zero BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin. This alone is a significant rubric improvement over mainstream biscuits that use synthetic preservation.
The not-so-good stuff
Cane sugar at position four is the biggest rubric deduction. Our rubric deducts 8 points for sugar (sugar, corn syrup, molasses, honey, maltodextrin) anywhere in the panel, because added sugar is unnecessary in dog treats and contributes to dental issues and calorie creep. Blue Buffalo uses the cane sugar as a humectant + palatability enhancer, but cleaner soft-chew formulations like Zuke’s Mini Naturals achieve the same texture without sugar.
Vegetable glycerin at position six triggers the −5 softener deduction. Glycerin is the humectant that keeps the treat pliable at room temperature. Like cane sugar, it’s a formulation-path choice that the rubric prefers to avoid — jerky-style, freeze-dried, or air-dried treats achieve low calorie density without glycerin.
Oatmeal and brown rice in positions two and three put two grains in the top five. Our rubric deducts 6 points for wheat/corn/soy/rice in the top 3 of a non-biscuit treat; Blue Bits has brown rice at position three, which triggers this deduction. (Oatmeal doesn’t count for the specific deduction list but it’s still a grain filler.)
Pea protein at position seven is a protein isolate — concentrated but less bioavailable than whole muscle meat. Not a rubric deduction on its own, but part of the overall binder-and-filler weight that keeps the formula from scoring higher.
At 4 kcal per piece, Blue Bits is higher-calorie than the 3-kcal class leaders (Zuke’s, Fruitables, PureBites). For high-volume training sessions the difference matters: a 50-pound dog can fit 27 Blue Bits in the 10% budget vs. 36 of a 3-kcal alternative.
There are no active FDA recalls or enforcement actions on Blue Buffalo Blue Bits product line as of this review’s verification date.
How it compares
Blue Bits B/76 sits at the bottom of the B-tier for training treats. Against same-tier peers — Zuke’s Mini Naturals (B/78), Wellness Soft WellBites (B/78), Fruitables Skinny Minis (B/78) — Blue Bits loses 2 points primarily to the cane sugar deduction. The DHA-and-fish-oil addition is a real differentiator, but the rubric weighs sugar as a 8-point deduction that the DHA doesn’t fully offset.
Blue Bits’s specific edge: the DHA claim is functionally meaningful for puppy trainability and senior cognitive maintenance. If your dog is a puppy in active training or a senior showing early cognitive signs, the DHA contribution justifies the formula choice despite the sugar. For healthy adult dogs with no DHA gap, a cleaner-panel alternative is probably the better call.
Against A-tier options — Vital Essentials (A/93), Stella & Chewy’s Carnivore Crunch (A/92), Charlee Bear (A/90), PureBites (B/81) — Blue Bits loses cleanly. The A-tier options use format-driven preservation (freeze-drying, baking) to eliminate glycerin and sugar entirely.
Against mainstream biscuits — Milk-Bone Original (D/38) — Blue Bits is a 38-point improvement: no BHA, no artificial colors, no wheat-first order, real chicken protein.
The bottom line
Blue Buffalo Blue Bits Tasty Chicken earns a B grade (76/100) on KibbleIQ’s treats rubric — a legitimate B-tier training treat with a real chicken lead, useful DHA supplementation, and natural preservation. The cane sugar and vegetable glycerin are the rubric cost, and they keep Blue Bits at the bottom of its tier rather than near the top. For puppies in active training and seniors on cognitive-maintenance monitoring, the DHA content is a genuine differentiator; for healthy adult dogs, cleaner-panel alternatives like Zuke’s Mini Naturals or PureBites are the better pick at the same or lower price point. See our Treats Rubric methodology for the full scoring logic. Shop on Amazon →