Evidence graph · finding

Materials science: glycerol-plasticized starch absorbs water and softens into a cohesive mass rather than dissolving (inference)

Peer-reviewed abstracts and a starch-chew patent show high-amylose pea starch forms firm gels that harden with storage, and that glycerol-plasticized thermoplastic starch takes up water with an 'additional plasticizing effect' (softening) while cellulose filler adds stiffness. Applied to Pup Ice this predicts a hard dry chew that becomes a sticky mass in gastric fluid — consistent with the endoscopist's 'slipper and friable' material that could not be gripped, and with the Amazon 'huge glob' review.