Check Your Dog's Peanut Butter

[jenners]

From Food Safety News:

 

"An Oregon veterinarian is waging an educational campaign to inform dog owners about the dangers posed to their pets by xylitol, a sugar alcohol-derived sweetener with one-third the calories of regular sugar that is being used in some nut butter products ...

Most dogs like peanut butter and seem to enjoy licking it off a spoon or trying to get it out of a rubber toy. However, xylitol is extremely toxic to them, Nicholas said, and there are no warning labels on the products alerting pet owners about the problem or telling them how much xylitol the product contains.

The nut butter products using xylitol for sweetening are not like regular peanut butter but are actually high-protein nut butter spreads with added whey protein isolate and flax seeds, chia seeds and other ingredients. They include P28 peanut spread from a company in Syracuse, NY, Nuts ‘N More from Providence, RI, and Krush Nutrition’s Nutty by Nature brand from Wellington, FL ...

It takes very little xylitol to create serious problems for a dog. Ingestion causes a massive surge of insulin release much more than from the same amount of sugar, he said.

“That surge of insulin drops blood sugar and causes hypoglycemia and, as a result of hypoglycemia, there’s not enough glucose in the blood and it causes weakness, ataxia (like staggering or drunk walking), and can cause collapse and, because the brain isn’t able to get the energy it needs, it can cause seizure and coma,” the vet said."

 

For complete article:

 

http://tinyurl.com/nmfahkj

 

Jennie

[boopieface]

Thank you Miss Jennie!!!

DA and PBL's Mammaa

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Petco sells this peanut butter called Dog's Butter. Not a lot of stuff in it (tastes like ground up peanuts,,,yes we tried it). More watery then real PB but obviously healthier. I worry about the actual sugar in peanut butter but my dog needs a taste of it to get her to eat.

[lukasmom]

My brother and I were just talking about this today at lunch. Scary how many people could sicken or kill their dogs and not know the peanut butter was the cause.

[PatricksMom]

Thanks, saw this on Facebook but I wasn't sure how to post it. I checked with DH, he buys Jiffy's natural stuff and that just has sugar, if anyone's looking.

[Guest BlueCrab]

I check the ingredients when buying and only buy the PB that's plain peanuts - no salt, no sugar, no other ingredients. It's usually pretty tough to find, but I can usually find at least one brand at the stores I shop at - and it's seldom the most expensive. Sometimes I have to resort to the health food section, but scan the ingredients before buying. It's surprising what's actually in "regular old peanut butter"! Usually the oil has separated out and it needs to be stirred before using first time, but I store it in the fridge, so once stirred, it stays mixed thereafter.

 

Everyone takes their pills with PB in our house - including the cats! So we buy lots of it.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

So I go to a local supermarket (chain in California, I don't know about anywhere else) called Stater Brothers to see what I could find on their shelves.

 

If you look at a regular jar of peanut butter it generally has peanuts, sugar, vegetable oils and a bunch of chemicals. But I found one on the shelf called Fifty50. I think it is for diabetics. All it has in it is peanuts and the vegetable oils. No chemicals, no sweeteners. It tastes just like mashed up peanuts (which makes you understand peanut butter doesn't taste a lot like peanuts) and the dog loves it.

[PatricksMom]

Please check your other products, even ones you've bought before. It seems like the use of the stuff is on the increase, even in products that use to use other (safe) sweeteners.

 

And check your gum--poison control told us that gum is the just about the worst they can get into, because it stays in the stomach, releasing the toxin over time.

Edited July 1, 2015 by PatricksMom