Can dogs eat Nutella? Will Nutella hurt my dog? My dog licked Nutella our of a jar should I be worried? Nutella is a brand of sweetened hazelnut and cocoa spread that has become quite popular lately. It’s produced by the Italian company Ferrero and its main ingredients consist of sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skimmed milk, soy lecithin and vanillin. Just like humans, dogs may be attracted by the hazelnut cream and won’t hesitate to eat some whether it’s straight from the jar or spread over a piece of bread. Dog owners may be rightfully concerned about Nutella’s cocoa contents considering that chocolate is toxic to dogs. So can you feed a dog Nutella or can this hazelnut spread be potentially harmful to your dog?
Nutella Cocoa Contents
While Nutella is labeled as containing cocoa, its contents are not very alarming compared to other chocolate products with higher concentrations.
Indeed, according to Wikipedia, Nutella is not labeled as chocolate cream under Italian law for the simple fact that it does not contain the minimum amount of cocoa solids necessary to meet the cocoa concentration criteria.
Nutella therefore does have cocoa, but there seems to be a low concentration compared to its sugar, oil and hazelnut content.
This is good news for dogs as the less the cocoa, the lower the risks for chocolate toxicity. However, whether a dog gets sick from eating Nutella or not really depends on how much the dog ate and the size of the dog.
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What Vets Say
So can dogs eat a hazelnut spread like Nutella? According to veterinarian Dr. Rebecca DVM, unless a dog eats a large amount of Nutella for its size, it should not cause major harm.
Vomiting or diarrhea may be the first symptoms seen when a dog ingests this hazelnut cream. If a dog develops these symptoms, Dr. Rebecca suggests seeing the vet.
Because there is not much theobromine (the active ingredient in chocolate) in Nutella, dogs are less likely to develop symptoms associated with chocolate toxicity such as anxiety or high heart rate, explains Justvetanswer, a small animal veterinarian with over 20 years of medical and surgical experience.
In dogs suffering from pancreatitis though, a sufficient amount may cause problems due to Nutella’s fat content.
While in small doses Nutella may not pose any major harm, veterinarian Scott Nimmo DVM suggests keeping in mind symptoms of chocolate toxicity in dogs which consist of vomiting and diarrhea, frequent urination, and restlessness.
These symptoms may then progress to cardiac problems, tremors and fits. He suggests to keep an eye for these and calling the vet without delay if any of these symptoms should be noticed.
Did you know? If your dog ate Nutella recently, call your vet. If no more than two hours have passed, there are chances your vet may give you instructions on how to induce vomiting at home using 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, as explained by the vet in the video below. This can be a life saving procedure especially if your dog got into your jar of Nutella and ate a big amount!
The Bottom Line
So can dogs eat Nutella? While Nutella in small amounts may not be toxic to dogs, Nutella is definitively something you do not want to add to your dog’s diet. And of course,the risks for chocolate toxicity rise if the dog eats some other chocolate product along with Nutella such as brownies covered with Nutella, a chocolate cake covered with Nutella frosting or a cream made by mixing Nutella with dark semi-sweet chocolate. Best to therefore keep this creamy spread and other products containing cocoa or chocolate out of reach just to keep dogs safe and out of harm’s way.
Disclaimer: this article is not to be used as a substitute for professional veterinary or nutritional advice. If your dog ate Nutella in large amounts or is developing symptoms, call your vet promptly.
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