Updated April 14, 2023
Emergency Care: Xylitol Ingestion
If a dog eats anything containing xylitol:
- Get a vet to induce vomiting ASAP
- If xylitol was absorbed, blood tests will be required
- A glucose drip may be needed to maintain blood sugars until the xylitol is gone
Now dive deeper…
There’s one common poison of dogs that most dog owners still don’t understand properly. Even if they do, the information they’re getting is hopelessly inaccurate for Australian conditions. It’s xylitol.
What Is Xylitol?
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener used in many products to replace sugar. In fact, it is often sold as a natural sweetener called Birch sugar. In humans it’s quite safe other than having a laxative effect at high doses.
In dogs, however, 100 mg of xylitol per kg of body weight is known to trigger a life-threatening release of insulin. This can cause extremely low blood glucose levels, leading to seizures, collapse, coma and even death.
Instructions on what to do are above. You should see a vet regardless of how much or how little was consumed. Dogs should survive with veterinary care.
Now let’s stop it happening to your dog. The trick is to know which foods to avoid.
What Contains Xylitol In Australia?
The following list is compiled from information published on the Coles, Woolworths, Harris Farm & GroceryRun websites on 21 Jan, 2020. Accuracy is not guaranteed and products will change with time.
The big message: look carefully at anything that says “sugar free”. The greatest threat to Aussie dogs is probably in:
- Cake & biscuit mixes
- Snack bars & protein supplements
- Mints & chewing gum.
Unlike the USA, I have been unable to find any peanut butter spread listing xylitol as an ingredient. Those marked (*) were gratefully received from Kylie in the comments section.
Ice Cream & Yoghurt
Fropro Ice Cream Tub 520ml (several flavours)
Girdlers Frozen Yoghurt (several flavours)
Snack Bars & Cereals
Orgran Sugar Free Cereal – Acai & Coconut 200g
Atkins Advantage Bar 60g (several flavours)
IsoWhey Keto Brownie Bite Chocolate 330g (several flavours)
Musashi Bulk Mass Gain Deluxe Chocolate & Peanut 90g
Fulfil Bar 55g (several flavours)
The Monday Food Co Keto Gourmet Granola (several flavours)*
The Source Bulk Wholefoods, Keto Peanut Butter Granola*
Cakes & Cake Mix
PBCo Protein Carrot Cake Mix 320g
Noshu Sugar Free Cookies Mix 300g (several flavours)
Noshu 99% Sugar Free Cake Mix 540g (several flavours)
Noshu Sugar Free Rich Chocolate Mud Cake 400g
Noshu 97% Sugar Free Funfetti & Funtella Cakes 180g
Noshu 98% Sugar Free White Chocolate & Raspberry Blondie 180g
Sensory Mill Apple Flour 300g*
The Monday Food Co Keto Brownie Mix 250g*
The Monday Food Co Keto Cake Mix 250g (several flavours)*
The Monday Food Co Keto Cookie Mix 250g*
The Monday Food Co Keto Icing 240g (several flavours)*
The Monday Food Co Keto Pancake Mix Vanilla Bean 215g*
180 Cakes Biscuit Mix Vanilla Almond 171g
180 Cakes Fudge Brownie Mix Chocolate 355g
Drinks
Applelachia Sparkling Apple Cider Vinegar
Keep It Cleaner Electrolyte Water 500ml (several flavours)
Keep It Cleaner Probiotic Sugar Free Raspberry Soda
Pro Live Kids Probiotic Drink
Mints & Chewing Gum
Jila Sugar Free Spearmint Mints
Mentos Now Mints 18g (several flavours)
Extra Chewing Gum Sugar Free (several flavours)
Extra Soft Chew Chewing Gum Sugar Free (several flavours)
Mentos Pure Fresh Sugar Free Gum 30g
Wrigley’s 5 Sugarfree Gum Tempest 12ce
Naturopathica Reducta Chewing Gum
Protein Supplements
Aussie Bodies Perfect Protein 375g (several flavours)
Aussie Bodies FX Lo Carb Protein Drink (several flavours)
Bioglan Wholefood Vanilla Protein Smoothie 200g
IsoWhey Hot Chocolate Powder 210g
Youfoodz Protein Powder 30g (several flavours)
Quit Smoking Gum
Nicabate Quit Smoking Gum
Nicorette Quit Smoking Gum
Toothpaste & Mouthwash
Honestly, there are so many mouthwashes & toothpastes that I have given up- check each one carefully. Brands include: All Smiles, Nfco, Biotene, Grants, Listerine, Macleans, Oral-b, Ecostore, Jack N’ Jill, White Glo.
Artificial Sweetener
Nirvana Xylitol 500g
Medicines
Gaviscon Dual Action Heartburn & Indigestion Chewable Tablets Peppermint
Mylanta Antacid Double Strength Liquid
Bach Rescue Remedy Stress Relief Pastilles (several flavours)
IsoWhey Weight Management Sachets
XL-S Medical Direct Oral Powder Sachets (a ‘weight loss’ powder)
Blackmores Superkids Omega Brain Chewables
If you are aware of any other products that contain xylitol, please let me know. Xylitol is not known to be toxic to cats.
Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.
Hi there after researching water additives for dog dental care I found OxyFresh and Aquadent contain xylitol and Tropiclean contains sorbitol, are there actually any safe water additives out there.
Hi there. Xylitol was an ingredient in some of these products, but my understanding is that AquadentFR3SH (the replacement for Aquadent) and Oxyfresh do NOT contain xylitol. However, I’m not sure that any in-water additives for dental care are well-supported by any evidence. Read better ways here.
Thanks for the information. Are all artificial sweeteners toxic to dogs, or is it just xylitol in particular that is so severe? I’m obviously not planning on deliberately feeding any sweeteners to my dog, but if they somehow ingested food with a sweetener would it still be a vet emergency?
Hi Claire. It seems that only xylitol is toxic to dogs.
Thankyou so much for giving us more understanding of xylitol. I have been panicking for days thinking I may have given my dog something I wasn’t suppose to. My dog is 7yrs old and out of the blue about 6 months ago he had a fit. He’s never had one before and then only yesterday he had another. It’s very scary and idk what to do .I love my dog so much and don’t want to lose him. And I’d love to be able to take him to the vet but I just simply can’t afford it. I would give my own life to save his.
Thanks for the list. Not knowing what contains Xylitol made me anxious about giving my dog anything apart from dog foods. Your list alleviates that fear and gives me an idea of what to watch for so thank you very much for publishing it.
Denada ice cream has it too
Whey less shakes powder has xylitol.. AND, XYLITOL IS NOW CALLED BIRCH SUGAR IN SOME ICECREAM & PEANUT BUTTER. So please be aware of the change of name & read labels.
Sugar free zooper dooper. They are ice blocks in a plastic sleeve.
Thanks for publishing this. I am a facebook group Admin of a German Shorthaired Pointer Group [German Shorthaired Pointers Australia] with over 8.5K members – this will be very useful.
Wow! I dont think the club is breed specific enough. I have a long haired black mexican chihuahua who wants to join LOL anyhows good for you for running a club for these kiddies. Good work mate
The Source Bulk Wholefoods, Keto Peanut Butter Granola
Thanks Kylie! You’re a gem
THE MONDAY FOOD CO (some of their KETO products that contain xylitol):
-Granola, Crunchy peanut butter
– gourmet granola, peanut butter and choc chip
-Keto cake mix, chocolate Torte
-keto cake mix, Peanut Butter Chocolate
-keto pancake mix, Vanilla Bean Pancake
-keto cake mix, peanut butter cookie
– keto icing, buttercream chocolate
– keto icing, buttercream coconut
-keto cake mix, Passion Fruit Sponge
– keto cake mix, Lime & Coconut Sponge
-keto brownie mix, Chocolate Hazelnut
-keto brownie mix,
Wow this is a great list. I will check each one personally, but it looks accurate, and I’ll make sure to credit you in the main article. Thanks heaps.
Twisted licks 99 sugar free ice cream contains xylitol