Where do bully sticks come from?
A bully stick is a single ingredient: beef pizzle, a muscle collected as a by-product of beef processing. It is cleaned, stretched and dried until it becomes a hard chew. Because it is a by-product, bully sticks are made wherever there is a large beef industry, and they are produced in several countries, including the US and Brazil.
Brazil is one of the biggest names in beef. According to a feedlot census by DSM-Firmenich, reported by The Cattle Site in February 2026, Brazil passed the US as the world's largest beef producer in 2025. A beef industry that size naturally produces a large supply of by-products such as pizzle.
Origin is a fair thing to care about. But it is easy to treat the country on a label as a safety score, and it is not one. Two sticks from the same country can be handled very differently, and two sticks from different countries can come out of equally careful processes. The useful questions are about the steps between the animal and your dog's mouth.
Are bully sticks from Brazil safe?
The honest answer is that a bully stick from Brazil carries the same kinds of risk as a bully stick from anywhere else, and those risks are managed the same way. The country is not what decides whether a stick is clean. The drying process, the supplier's testing and the way you handle the stick at home decide that.
There are three layers worth understanding, and each one answers a different question:
- Country-level rules, such as US import requirements and the animal disease status of the exporting country. These tell you whether the product is allowed in and whether certain cattle diseases are a concern.
- Product-level testing by the brand or its supplier. This tells you whether a finished batch was checked for bacteria such as Salmonella before it was sold.
- Handling at home. This is the part you control, and it matters for every natural chew regardless of origin.
If all three are in place, the country of origin becomes a preference rather than a safety question. If one is missing, a label that says USA or Brazil does not make up for it.
How imported bully sticks enter the US
Imported pet chews are animal food in the eyes of US regulators. The FDA's Importing Animal Food page sets out two requirements that matter here. First, FDA prior notice applies to imported animal food, which means the FDA is told about a shipment before it arrives. Second, pet food, chews and treats that contain animal-origin material from countries with livestock diseases not found in the US need a permit from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, known as APHIS.
Those rules are a gate, not a guarantee. They control what may come in and under what paperwork. They do not test every bag for bacteria, and they do not tell you how a particular brand dried, stored or packed its sticks. That is why the table below separates what each check covers from what it leaves open.
| Check | What it covers | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|
| FDA prior notice | The FDA is notified about imported animal food before it arrives | Whether a specific batch was tested for bacteria |
| USDA APHIS permit, where required | Animal-origin chews from countries with livestock diseases not found in the US | How the brand dried, handled or packed the sticks |
| WOAH negligible BSE risk status | The BSE risk of the exporting country's cattle population | Anything about Salmonella or E. coli on a finished chew |
| Made in USA or country-of-origin line | Where the brand says the product was made or packed | Where the cattle were raised, unless the brand states it |
| Brand batch testing | Whether finished sticks were checked for pathogens before sale | How the stick is handled once the bag is open at home |
Read that table from left to right and the pattern is clear. Each layer is real and useful, and none of them replaces the others. A careful buyer asks about the last two rows, because those are the ones that change from brand to brand.
What WOAH's 2026 BSE list says about Brazil
BSE, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is the cattle disease most people know as mad cow disease. Because a bully stick is a beef product, it is a reasonable thing to ask about.
The World Organisation for Animal Health, WOAH, assigns countries an official BSE risk status. On WOAH's 2026 list, adopted at its 93rd General Session, Brazil is listed among the members with negligible BSE risk, which is the lowest-risk category WOAH assigns.
It helps to be precise about what that status means. It is an assessment of the BSE risk in a country's cattle population, based on surveillance and controls. It is not a test of a bag of chews, and it says nothing about everyday food safety issues such as Salmonella, which can affect a dried meat chew from any country. So the WOAH status answers the mad cow question well, and the bacteria question has to be answered by testing and handling.
What "made in USA" on a label can and cannot tell you
Many owners search specifically for bully sticks made in the USA, and the instinct makes sense: people trust what they know. A US origin line is a real piece of information. The catch is that a short label line can describe different steps of the supply chain, so it is worth knowing exactly what you are being told.
- A line about where a product was made or packed may describe where the stick was dried, cut or bagged. It does not always tell you where the cattle were raised.
- A line such as American beef or US cattle is a claim about the animal. If that is what matters to you, look for it, or ask the brand directly.
- Neither line tells you whether finished sticks were tested for bacteria. That question applies to every origin, including the US.
The same reasoning applies to a Brazil label. A brand that says its beef is Brazilian is telling you where the cattle came from. It still owes you an answer on testing, and it should say plainly whether the cattle were grass-fed if it makes that claim.
In short, made in USA and made from Brazilian beef are both honest answers to a where question. The safety question is a how question, and it is the same for both.
Why supplier testing matters for any origin
Dried meat chews are not sterile. When Tufts University researchers bought 26 bully sticks from US and Canadian retailers for a 2013 study, they found bacteria on several, including E. coli on 7 of them. Their practical advice was to treat bully sticks like raw meat and wash your hands after handling them.
FDA recall notices show the same lesson from a different angle. In February 2018, one lot of a 7-inch bully stick 3-pack was recalled for possible Salmonella, with no illnesses reported. In October 2025, four lots of a bully bites product were recalled after an FDA sample collected that September tested positive for Salmonella, again with no dog illnesses reported. In both cases, the problem was found by testing a finished product.
A wider natural-chew example comes from 2019, when an outbreak of Salmonella linked to pig ear treats, a different chew entirely, made 154 people ill in 34 states, with 35 hospitalized, according to the CDC. More than half of the people the CDC heard from said they never, rarely or only sometimes washed their hands after handling pet food or treats. The lesson for bully stick owners is not about any one product or country. It is that natural chews need testing at the source and clean hands at home.
What grass-fed and Brazilian mean on a bag
It is easy to assume that Brazilian beef is automatically grass-fed. It is not a safe assumption, because some Brazilian cattle are finished in feedlots and that sector is growing. The same DSM-Firmenich census counted 9.25 million head of cattle through Brazilian feedlots in 2025, up 16% on 2024. So Brazilian and grass-fed are two separate claims, and a brand should state both if both are true.
For a single-ingredient chew, these details are the whole story. INVIROX bully sticks are one ingredient, grass-fed Brazilian beef pizzle with nothing added, and the guaranteed analysis is printed for you to read: crude protein 83% minimum, crude fat 5% minimum, crude fiber 1% maximum and moisture 12% maximum. Those are the kinds of specifics you should expect from any brand you buy from.
A stick being high in protein also means it carries real calories, which is easy to forget when you are focused on where it came from. If you give bully sticks often, count them as part of the daily food.
Questions to ask any bully stick brand
These are fair questions to put to any brand, from any country, including us. A good supplier will not be bothered by them.
- What is the ingredient list? It should be beef pizzle and nothing else.
- Where were the cattle raised, and where were the sticks dried, cut and packed?
- If the bag says grass-fed, how is that confirmed?
- Do you or your supplier test finished batches for Salmonella and other bacteria, and how often?
- Do your imported sticks come in with FDA prior notice and, where it applies, a USDA APHIS permit?
- What is the guaranteed analysis for protein, fat, fiber and moisture?
- Is there a lot number and a best-by date on the bag, so a batch can be traced if there is ever a recall?
- What do you do if a customer reports a stick that smells wrong, looks moldy or made a dog unwell?
Then do your part at home. The FDA's advice after the 2019 pig ear outbreak still fits every natural chew: watch your dog while it chews, pick the treat up when your dog is done, keep chews away from small children, and wash your hands after handling them. Store sticks in a sealed bag in a cool, dry place, and throw away any stick that turns slimy or grows mold.
One ingredient, and we tell you where it comes from
Grass-fed Brazilian beef pizzle with nothing added, in packs of 5 to 25.
See the bully sticksFrequently asked questions
Are bully sticks from Brazil safe?
They can be as safe as bully sticks from any country. Brazil is on WOAH's 2026 list of countries with negligible BSE risk, and imports go through FDA rules. Safety for any origin depends on a single ingredient, testing of finished batches by the brand, supervised chewing and washing your hands after handling.
Are bully sticks made in the USA better?
Not automatically. A made in USA line tells you where a product was made or packed, and it may not tell you where the cattle were raised or whether batches were tested. Compare brands on ingredient list, testing, traceable lot numbers and handling advice, whatever the country on the bag.
Where do bully sticks come from?
Bully sticks are made from beef pizzle, a by-product of beef processing, so they come from countries with large cattle industries, including the US and Brazil. Brazil passed the US as the world's largest beef producer in 2025, according to a DSM-Firmenich census reported by The Cattle Site.
Is there a mad cow risk with Brazilian bully sticks?
Brazil is listed among the countries with negligible BSE risk on WOAH's 2026 list, the lowest-risk category WOAH assigns. That status covers the BSE risk in the country's cattle population. It does not cover bacteria such as Salmonella, which is why testing and clean handling still matter.
What US rules apply to imported bully sticks?
According to the FDA, imported animal food is subject to FDA prior notice, and pet chews containing animal-origin material from countries with livestock diseases not found in the US need a USDA APHIS permit. These rules control entry. They do not replace a brand's own testing of finished batches.
Does Brazilian beef mean grass-fed?
Not necessarily. Some Brazilian cattle are finished in feedlots, and that sector is growing, with 9.25 million head in 2025 according to a DSM-Firmenich census. Treat Brazilian and grass-fed as separate claims and look for a brand that states both clearly if both are true.
