Nutella is a very popular spread that many pet parents have on hand at home. This yummy spread is often used on bread, pancakes, and more!
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But what happens if your dog eats Nutella? Is Nutella toxic to dog?
What is Nutella?
Nutella is a sweet spread that’s made from hazelnuts and cocoa. It was first developed in Italy during WWI, by Pietro Ferrero. He was a baker who decided to grind up hazelnuts and chocolate to create a spread. This was in response to the cocoa shortage in Italy at the time.
This sweet spread is now used by people around the world! It’s used in so many ways—some people enjoy a spoon of Nutella on its own, or use it on bread, toast, pancakes and even waffles.
Nutella is made with several ingredients including:
- Sugar
- Palm oil
- Hazelnuts
- Cocoa (about 6% of the ingredients)
- Skimmed milk powder
- Soy lecithin
- Vanilla
What If My Dog Eats Nutella?
It can happen! If you drop toast or another food that’s been spread with Nutella, chances are pretty your dog will snarf it up pretty quickly! What’s not to like in Nutella?
The main issues are that Nutella contains high amounts of sugar, fat, and some cocoa. And it’s possible the product could also contain xylitol, which is an artificial sweetener that’s extremely toxic to dogs. Right now, as far as we could tell from our online research, Nutella does not contain xylitol. However, manufacturers are always changing their recipes.
So, if your dog eats Nutella, the first thing to do is to keep him from eating more. Pick up the jar and/or the food that had Nutella on it. Next, read the jar’s ingredient list. Look to see if it contains xylitol. If so, then call the vet immediately.
Otherwise, Nutella isn’t toxic to your dog, even though it does contain chocolate. The amount of chocolate in Nutella is very small. However, if a small dog ate a large amount of the spread, it is possible the dog could suffer from chocolate toxicity. It would take a lot of Nutella to poison a small dog in this way.
If your dog eats Nutella, then monitor his symptoms (if any). You may notice some diarrhea, vomiting, and lack of appetite. This could be caused by the high levels of sugar and fat in the product. If the symptoms are concerning, or become concerning over time, then be sure to call the vet right away. There’s a chance your dog could develop a painful condition called pancreatitis.
Otherwise, it’s probably not a good idea to allow your dog to eat Nutella, either. Peanut butter would be a much better option, as long as it’s not high in sugar, and you only give your dog a small amount.
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Kim
Kim is a talented author, who loves animals especially dogs. She engaged in writing books and articles relating to animals a decade ago. Kim resides in Chicago with her husband and son. The family is the proud owner of a dog and a parrot (Jack and Lily). Kim wanted more than these two pets, but her husband put his foot down... She often visits elementary schools to talk to the kids about what she learned about pets and how they could learn from them.
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