Sugar Substitute in Some Nut Butter Products Toxic to Dogs
By Cathy Siegner | June 25, 2015
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.
Dr. Jason Nicholas of The Preventive Vet in Portland, OR,
may be making headway since he said that his recent blog post about the
issue has attracted nearly 500,000 visitors.
“My biggest concern with this and what prompted me to write
this article is that awareness is crucial,” he said.
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.
“The thing with all of these is that they seem oriented
toward the nutrition, health food, muscle-building crowd,” Nicholas said.
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.
His blog post and the table posted here indicate the
scope of the problem:
- Ingestion of as little as 0.1 gram (g) of xylitol per kilogram (kg) of body weight (0.1 g/kg) can cause a rapid and dangerous drop in a dog’s blood sugar (a condition called “hypoglycemia”). Hypoglycemia can show as staggering, appearing disoriented, collapse, weakness, and seizures.
- Just slightly more than that, approx. 0.5 g/kg xylitol ingestion, can lead to debilitating, and sadly often deadly, destruction of a dog’s liver cells.
However, if the situation is recognized and caught
early and appropriate therapy is instituted, most dogs that get hypoglycemia
will do fine, he added, unless the particular dog is elderly, has epilepsy,
diabetes, or some other pre-existing condition that might complicate things.
Other common household products containing xylitol
that dogs may ingest are sugarless gum, mints, chewable
vitamins, toothpastes and mouthwashes, and sugar-free baked goods.
“If a 20-pound dog gets into some Advil or something, we
know what the dosage is. With xylitol in a product like this, we don’t know and
have to assume the worst,” Nicholas noted.
The worst can involve thousands of dollars in vet bills
because a dog had to be hospitalized for treatment. But if the pet owner
called a poison control center or a vet within an hour of the dog
ingesting a xylitol-containing product, it’s possible that the situation
might be averted.
Krush Nutrition has posted this warning on its
website: “Xylitol, which is a natural sugar alcohol, is safe in humans. We
ask that you please keep all xylitol and xylitol-containing food products out
of reach from dogs. Even small amounts can be toxic to dogs. If you do,
however, suspect your dog has ingested a xylitol-containing food, we suggest
you immediately contact your local veterinarian.”
Nicholas said it shows the company is aware of the problem
and “is at least doing something.” However, he said it won’t do much good for
people shopping in a store.
His hope is that such manufacturers, whether under a U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) requirement
or not, will put a warning on their products to show that they care about pets.
FDA issued a consumer warning about
the issue in 2011, and Nicholas said it would be good if label warnings
were required “now that more products are having xylitol in them.”
Generally, he said it’s OK to give peanut butter to dogs in
small amounts as an occasional treat.
“Every now and again, if I’m making a peanut butter sandwich
and my dog comes over, I might give her what’s left on the knife — not with
xylitol, though,” Nicholas said. However, it’s not advisable to give nut
butters to a dog that’s overweight, or to one that has a sensitive stomach, due
to the risk of pancreatitis and obesity.
He said the best advice for a pet owner is to carefully read
ingredient labels and not to assume that what is safe for humans is also safe
for pets.
Peter Pan (peanut butter)
Peter
Pan is a brand of peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods and named after the J.M. Barrie character.
Planters
Planters
is an American snack food company, a division of Kraft Foods, best known for its processed
nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them.[1] Mr. Peanut was
created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the
company's brand icon.[1] His design was perfected by a commercial artist and
has changed over the years.
Skippy (peanut butter)
Skippy
is a brand of peanut butter manufactured in the USA. First sold in 1933, Skippy
is currently manufactured by Hormel Foods, which bought the brand from Unilever in
2013.
It
is the best-selling brand of peanut butter in China and second only to The J.M. Smucker Company's Jif brand worldwide.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA)
Michael R. Taylor
is the deputy commissioner for foods for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and was the VP for public
policy for the Monsanto Company.
Note: Russell Group
is the lobby firm for the Monsanto
Company, the Hormel Foods
Corporation, and Mondelez
International, Inc.
Kraft Foods
Group was a subsidiary of Mondelez
International, Inc.
Planters
is a Kraft Foods Group brand.
Ann
M. Fudge was a division president for Mondelez
International, Inc, is a director at Unilever
PLC, and a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Unilever Group
is a member of the Unilever PLC.
Skippy
peanut butter is a Unilever Group
brand.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank), the Committee for Economic
Development, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Mark B. McClellan
was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a commissioner
for the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
William
Wrigley Jr. II is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and was the chairman for the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.
Richard K.
Smucker was a director at the Wm.
Wrigley Jr. Company, is the CEO & director for J.M. Smucker Company, and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Donna S. Morea
was a trustee at the Committee for
Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI Group Inc.
was the Obamacare contractor that
developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Barack Obama’s signature
policy initiative is Obamacare, and was
an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama
was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP was the lobby firm for the Monsanto
Company.
Michael R. Taylor
was the VP for public policy for the Monsanto
Company, and is the deputy commissioner for foods for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
R. Eden Martin is
counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and
the president of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is
a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is Valerie B.
Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), a senior counsel for Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP,
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Monsanto Company.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American
Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank),
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Donald
Kennedy was a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), and a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Margaret A.
Hamburg is the commissioner for the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the VP for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and David A. Hamburg’s daughter.
Warren E. Buffett
is an adviser at the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank),
Howard G. Buffett’s
father, and the chairman & CEO for Berkshire
Hathaway Inc.
Howard
G. Buffett is Warren E. Buffett’s
son, a director at Berkshire Hathaway
Inc., and was a director at ConAgra
Foods Inc.
Berkshire
Hathaway Inc. was an investor in the Wm.
Wrigley Jr. Company Mars acquisition.
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
David A. Hamburg
is an adviser for the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), Margaret A.
Hamburg’s father, and the president emeritus for the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Newton
N. Minow is an honorary trustee at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP was the lobby firm for the Monsanto
Company.
Michael R. Taylor
was the VP for public policy for the Monsanto
Company, and is the deputy commissioner for foods for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Mark B. McClellan
was a commissioner for the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (FDA), and a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Ann
M. Fudge is a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a director at Unilever PLC, and was a division president for Mondelez International, Inc.
Russell Group
is the lobby firm for Mondelez
International, Inc, the Monsanto
Company, the Hormel Foods
Corporation, Washington University
in St. Louis, and the National Pork Producers Council.
W. Patrick
McGinnis is a trustee at Washington
University in St. Louis, and the president & CEO for the Nestle Purina Petcare Co.
Policy
Directions was the lobby firm for the National
Pork Producers Council, is the lobby firm for the Nestle Purina Petcare Co, and Nestle
USA.
Nestlé Purina, Hills join pet food recall
Updated 3/31/2007 2:24 AM
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
A recall of pet food expanded
Friday to include the first dry product, which is available only through
veterinarians' offices.
Meanwhile, the FDA now says the contamination in
wet pet food that has injured and killed pets across the country may not have
been the pesticide aminopterin but possibly a fertilizer and plastics agent
called melamine.
In a news conference Friday
morning, the Food and Drug Administration announced that its labs had detected melamine in samples
of the pet food, in the wheat gluten used to make it and in the urine and
kidneys of cats who were injured by it.
FDA investigators are not
certain how melamine would sicken
or kill dogs and cats; there is little
scientific information available about melamine exposure in animals.
ON DEADLINE: What is melamine?
Hills Pet Nutrition announced
that it is recalling its Prescription Diet Feline Dry Food, Friday evening. The
company said the food contained wheat gluten provided by a company that also
supplied wheat gluten to Menu Foods, the firm that initiated the earlier
recall. It did not say whether any pet illnesses had been associated with the
food.
Nestlé Purina PetCare
also late Friday said it was recalling all sizes
and varieties of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date
codes.
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