Can Dogs Have Oreos

Oreos are snacks made basically for human consumption.  While the human system does not have any difficulty processing and digesting the ingredients contained in Oreos, many of those ingredients make it difficult for a dog’s digestive system to process and digest Oreos. Can dogs have oreos? We urge you to keep reading to find out.

This is why before buying any human food from the store for your dog, it is important that you read the label on the package and be sure that the food does not contain any ingredient that is toxic for your dog. Can we share a few bites of our Oreos cookies with our dog? Not quite!

If you come across any ingredient that you are not familiar with or you cannot even pronounce, it would be best to drop that food and go for something you are more familiar with. Keep reading to find out more about Oreos and dogs.

Can Dogs Have Oreos?

The simple answer is NO! dogs should not be given any Oreos as they contain ingredients that are toxic and poisonous to dogs. To save your dog from having to suffer severe health issues that may arise from eating Oreos and also save yourself from worrying over your dog’s health, it is best to leave Oreos out of your dog’s diet and treats.

In the next section of this article, we will be looking into the nutritional value and ingredients contained in Oreos and why they are unhealthy for doggy consumption.

Nutritional Value Of Oreos

Let’s take a look at the nutritional value of 1 Oreos cookie (11.3g).

Calories – 53.3cal; Carbohydrates – 8.3g; Dietary fiber – 0.3g; Total Fat – 2.3g; Saturated Fat – 0.7g;

Sodium – 45mg; Sugar – 4.7g; Potassium – 18.3mg; Protein – 0.3g

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Ingredients Contained In Oreos

Oreos are made of Unbleached enriched flour: Wheat flour, reduced iron, niacin, vitamins B1 & B2, and folic acid. Calcium phosphate or baking soda. Sugar. Corn syrup with high fructose. Palm oil or canola oil. Cornstarch. Chocolate. Alkali-processed Cocoa. Soy lecithin. Salt. Artificial vanilla flavor.

Let’s take a deeper, more detailed look at some of these ingredients that are toxic to dogs and not to be given to them.

• Unbleached enriched flour

The type of flour used in making Oreos is not whole grain or whole wheat and can be dangerous for dogs with gluten allergies. If your dog has wheat or gluten allergies, keep them away from Oreos completely.

You can prepare healthier, homemade alternatives to Oreos for your dog with whole wheat flour or amaranth flour. This flour is rich in the protein and minerals that are essential for your dog.

• Sugar And High Fructose Corn Syrup

Dogs get their sugar from the carbohydrates in their regular diets, not from sugary treats like Oreos and 4.7g of sugar in one Oreos cookie is simply way too much extra sugar to add to your dog’s sugar intake.

Corn syrup is also sugar, only it is more additive to dogs. Consuming excessive sugar or high fructose corn syrup can lead to the following health issues in your dog:

Disruption in balance of micro-organisms responsible for digesting food in your dog’s gut, vomiting, bloody loose stool, tooth decay, cavities, heightened calories level leading to obesity, lethargy, labored breathing, heart disease, diabetes and pancreatitis.

• Chocolate

When it comes to human food and their toxicity to dogs, chocolate is one of the major ingredients that are toxic to dogs are unfortunately, they are also one of the major ingredients contained in Oreos. To prevent chocolate poisoning, it is highly advised that you avoid feeding your dog Oreos or any other food that contains even the smallest amount of chocolate.

A dog suffering from chocolate poisoning may experience the following symptoms:

Bloody loose stool, extreme dehydration, vomiting, excessive urination, muscle tremors, rapid heartbeat, labored breathing, seizure and death in severe cases.

• Alkali-processed Cocoa

Regular cocoa powder are not the same as cocoa that has been processed with alkali. The processed cocoa that is contained in Oreos has had some of its nutrients and good chemicals removed during processing. Regular cocoa powder contains chemical substances that are beneficial to your dog’s cardiovascular health so if you must feed your dog any food containing cocoa, opt for regular cocoa powder.

• Vanillin

This is the artificial flavor that is gotten from vanilla bean extract and used in making Oreos. Unfortunately a good number of vanillin used in foods these days are artificially produced and not from vanilla beans. This artificially produced flavor is unhealthy for your dog’s consumption.

• Palm Oil And Canola Oil

These two oils are not toxic to dogs in themselves. In its pure form, palm oil is not harmful to dogs but most times, it is not used in its pure form to make these food items as it can easily be contaminated with toxic matters like fuel wastes.

Canola oil might not be toxic to dogs, but it is not the healthiest type of oil for your dog. The healthiest types of oil for your dog’s consumption are:

Coconut oil, Olive oil, Flaxseed oil, Fish oil, and Sunflower oil.

• Salt

Oreos contains way more salt than your dog needs daily. While the amount of salt in Oreos might not be a problem to humans, it is not healthy for dogs. Consuming excessive salt can lead to sodium poisoning in your dog which can result in the following symptoms:

Vomiting, extreme dehydration, diarrhea, excessive urination, loss of appetite, convulsion, lethargy, body and muscle weakness, seizure, coma and death in severe cases.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can Dogs Eat Golden Oreos?

Golden Oreos, also known as Vanilla Oreos or white Oreos are no healthier than the regular Oreos.

Although Golden Oreos do not contain any chocolate in them, which makes them a tad bit safer for your dog since one of the ingredients that are most toxic to dogs is not present in this snack, this does not make them healthy for your dog.

Completely avoid feeding your dog any Oreos at all; Regular Oreos or Golden Oreos.

What Happens If My Dog Eats Oreos?

Due to the ingredients contained in Oreos that are toxic to dogs such as chocolate, cocoa, sugar, palm oil, vanilla flavor and flour, it is best to keep your dog away from Oreos altogether. However, if your dog happens to accidentally eat only one Oreos, this should not cause any harm or severe side effect in your dog.

Consuming Oreos in large quantities may cause your dog to suffer chocolate toxicity which may result in stomach upset, pancreatitis and other health issues including death in severe cases. Hence, it is important that you contact your vet doctor if your dog consumes large amounts of Oreos at once.

Conclusion

The side effects of Oreos on dogs will be largely dependent on the size of the dog. Large-sized dog breeds may be able to handle the toxic ingredients in Oreos a bit better than small-sized dogs. This is not a license to feed Oreos to your dog since he is a large breed.

Although in small amounts, Oreos might not harm your dog, the more Oreos your dog consumes, the more toxic ingredients your ingests and the higher the risk of potentially severe health issues. If you read through to the end, we hope you found this article helpful.