What Most Brands Won’t Explain, Because It Changes Everything
I’ve been in this industry a long time, and there’s something I need to say plainly.
This is the quiet scandal of the broth industry and almost no one explains it properly because once you do, the whole house of cards starts wobbling.
Bone broth has been marketed into oblivion. Gut health. Collagen. Glow. Healing. And yet, very few people are ever told how the broth they’re buying is actually made.
That’s not accidental.
Because once you understand the process, you start asking uncomfortable questions and not every product survives those questions.
What Real Bone Broth Actually Is
Real bone broth is not clever.
It’s not engineered.
It’s not optimised for margins.
It’s bones, water, and time.
Bones are simmered long enough for minerals, gelatin, and amino acids to naturally move into the liquid. Nothing is forced. Nothing is added later to “fix” it.
If that broth is dried properly, the only thing removed is water.
That’s it.
No starch.
No fillers.
No rebuilding.
Just broth, minus the liquid.
Where Things Start to Go Wrong
Most commercial broth powders don’t stay intact through processing.
Somewhere between cooking and packaging:
- structure is lost
- proteins fall out
- mouthfeel disappears
- flavour weakens
So instead of asking why that happened, many manufacturers patch it up.
This is where reconstructed broth comes in.
What Reconstructed Broth Really Means
Reconstructed broth is broth that’s been broken — then rebuilt to behave like broth again.
That rebuilding usually looks like:
- tapioca starch for bulk and thickness
- added collagen powder to inflate protein numbers
- salt or nutritional yeast to bring flavour back
On paper, it still qualifies as “bone broth”.
On a nutrition panel, it can look impressive.
But functionally, it’s no longer whole.
It’s been engineered to resemble broth — not preserved as broth.
That distinction matters.
The Problem With “xx% Bone Broth”
This number sounds authoritative. It’s not.
There is no clear, regulated definition of what “94% bone broth” actually means.
It does not have to mean:
- 94% bones
- 94% original liquid broth
- 94% finished product
In most cases, it means:
- 94% of the final blend is something the brand defines as “broth powder”
- which may already contain starch, salt, or added collagen
So yes — you can legally say “xx% bone broth” and still be selling a formulation.
Big percentages look transparent.
They’re often anything but.
Tapioca Starch: The Tell Tale Ingredient
This is my biggest issue with the industry, and I won’t dance around it.
Tapioca starch is used because:
- it’s cheap
- it bulks product
- it improves mouthfeel
It exists to solve a manufacturing problem, not a nutritional one.
From a gut health perspective:
- it adds rapidly digestible carbohydrate
- it contributes nothing to repair or nourishment
- it dilutes the very compounds people buy broth for
If starch is needed to make your broth behave like broth again, then something went wrong earlier.
That’s not ancestral food.
That’s formulation.
Why Added Collagen Is Another Clue
Collagen should already be in bone broth. Naturally.
So when collagen is added back in, it tells me one thing:
it didn’t survive the process.
Either it was lost, removed, or damaged.
Adding collagen later is not the same as preserving it from the start. It’s a workaround, and a convenient one, because collagen powder is cheap and marketable.
Real broth doesn’t need protein boosting.
It already earned it.
What About Broth Pastes and Liquid Concentrates?
This is where another category sits — shelf stable broth pastes and liquid concentrates.
Here’s the simple truth:
Real broth is wet, nutrient-dense, and perishable.
So to make it:
- thick like a paste
- stable at room temperature
- shelf stable for long periods
it has to be pushed well beyond its natural state.
That usually means:
- extreme reduction
- very high salt levels
- intense heat treatment
- pH manipulation
- or stabilisation systems
None of this is illegal. But none of it is neutral either.
The more you push broth away from what it naturally is, the more you change how it behaves in the body.
That’s the trade off of shelf stability — and it deserves to be understood, not glossed over.
How We Do It And Why We've Got Nothing To Hide
At Broth of Life, we don’t hide behind percentages or clever wording.
We start with:
- filtered rainwater
- organic, grass fed start to finish bones
- real vegetables
- time
We cook it properly as broth first.
Then we dry it carefully so the structure stays intact.
We don’t:
- add starch
- add fillers
- add collagen back in
- engineer texture
Our ingredient list looks like food because it is food.
It’s harder.
It’s slower.
It costs more.
But it survives scrutiny — and that matters.
Why This Actually Matters
If you’re buying bone broth for gut health, healing, or nourishment, the process matters as much as the ingredients.
Labels don’t tell the full story.
Percentages can distract.
Buzzwords are cheap.
Understanding how your broth was made is where the truth is.
And if a brand can’t clearly explain that — without smoke and mirrors — it’s worth asking why.
Because once you understand the difference between real broth and reconstructed broth, you can’t unknow it.
Real Bone Broth vs Reconstructed Broth vs Shelf-Stable Concentrates
| Feature | Real Bone Broth (Properly Made & Dried) | Reconstructed Broth Powders | Shelf-Stable Pastes & Liquid Concentrates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Bones, water, time | Broth that has lost structure during processing | Liquid broth pushed beyond natural limits |
| How nutrition is achieved | Naturally extracted from bones through long cooking | Lost during processing, then rebuilt | Altered through reduction, salt, heat, or stabilisation |
| Processing philosophy | Preserve what’s there | Break → rebuild | Push → stabilise |
| Need for fillers (e.g. tapioca starch) | ❌ No | ✅ Yes, to add bulk & mouthfeel | ❌ Usually no starch, but other compromises apply |
| Added collagen | ❌ No — collagen is naturally present | ✅ Often added back in | ❌ Not usually added, but structure may be altered |
| Texture & mouthfeel | Comes from natural gelatin | Engineered to mimic broth | Achieved through reduction, salt, or processing |
| Shelf stability | Achieved by removing water only | Achieved through formulation | Achieved through heavy reduction and/or stabilisation |
| Salt levels | Moderate, culinary | Variable | Often high to ensure stability |
| Impact on gut health | Intact amino acids & gelatin | Diluted by fillers | Altered by processing intensity |
| Ingredient list transparency | Looks like food | Often looks like a formulation | Often minimal, but process heavy |
| Consumer understanding | Easy to explain | Rarely explained | Rarely explained |
| Key question to ask | “Was anything added or removed?” | “Why did it need fixing?” | “What had to happen to make this shelf stable?” |
