Can dogs eat Nutella?

Is Nutella safe for dogs?

No. Nutella is a chocolate product, and the cocoa in every jar brings theobromine and caffeine, which dogs clear slowly. The Merck Veterinary Manual gives theobromine's half-life in dogs as about 17.5 hours, so the chemicals linger long after the spoon is licked clean. Many people think of a spread as "weak" chocolate. Gram for gram, it is not: USDA FoodData Central lists 230 milligrams of theobromine and 7 of caffeine per 100 grams of chocolate hazelnut spread, against 205 and 20 for milk chocolate.

A note on that number: USDA's entry is for generic chocolate-flavored hazelnut spread, not for Nutella by brand, so treat it as a close estimate rather than a measurement of your jar, and store-brand spreads follow their own recipes. So is Nutella toxic to dogs, or just bad for them? It contains the same toxins as chocolate, so it can hurt your dog, and whether it will depends on how much it ate for its size. The danger is methylxanthine poisoning from the cocoa, which can affect any dog. A food allergy is a separate problem: a dog can also react to an ingredient such as the milk or soy in Nutella, which VCA Animal Hospitals lists among possible food allergens. Do not give your dog Nutella or let it eat from the jar.

What to do if your dog ate Nutella

If your dog ate Nutella, whether a small amount off toast, half a sandwich or the jar, follow these steps in order.

1. Put the jar out of reach and keep it. Note the net weight on the label and how much is left. Check for missing pieces of the lid, foil seal or jar.
2. Call for advice now. Call your vet, or after hours an emergency vet or a poison line: Pet Poison Helpline at 855-764-7661 or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at 888-426-4435. Both are open 24/7, and consultation fees may apply.
3. Describe the amount. The calculator at the top of this page is set to chocolate hazelnut spread by the tablespoon. Enter your dog's weight and the number of tablespoons that could be missing, then read the result out on the call.
4. Do not treat your dog yourself. Do not induce vomiting at home or give any home remedy; leave that decision to your veterinarian.
5. Follow the instructions you get. You may be told to come in now or to watch for specific signs at home. If you go in, call ahead and bring the jar.

Not sure how much is gone? Use the worst case: count the largest amount that could be missing, and say so on the call.

What to tell your vet about the Nutella

The person on the phone has to turn "my dog ate Nutella" into a dose, and they will ask for details a jar can answer. Gather these while you dial:

• How much is missing. In tablespoons if you can. For a jar, read the net weight: grams divided by 18.5, the USDA weight of one tablespoon, gives approximate tablespoons. You can also multiply the label's servings per container by its serving size.
• The exact product. Nutella, a store brand, a "sugar-free," "keto" or "protein" spread, or a snack pack with breadsticks. Read the ingredients for xylitol (a sweetener found in some sugar-free gum), sometimes listed as birch sugar.
• What it was on. Toast, a crepe, cookies, brownies or a snack mix each add their own ingredients, and some add more chocolate.
• Whether the lid, seal or jar was chewed. Missing plastic or glass changes what the vet looks for.
• Your dog's weight, age and health. Past pancreatitis, heart disease, seizures and current medicines all change the advice.
• The time and any signs so far. When it happened, and any vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness or panting.

Lick, spoonful or jar: what each one means

How much Nutella is toxic, or bad enough to be dangerous, depends on your dog's weight. The amount decides how urgent the call is, which is why the vet will ask for it. The table below turns a lick, a spoonful or a jar of chocolate hazelnut spread into the calculator's dose bands for 10-, 30- and 50-pound dogs, using USDA's 43.8 milligrams per tablespoon. Whatever the row, the action column starts the same way.

A lick

A lick off a knife, a plate or a finger is a small fraction of a tablespoon. For most dogs that lands in the calculator's lowest band, "Lower dose, but still call your vet," where vomiting, diarrhea and thirst are still possible and the fat and sugar can upset the stomach. Make the call anyway. The person on the line can check the label with you, and a lick of a sugar-free spread sweetened with xylitol is a different and more urgent problem. Cats are different: if your cat licked even a little bit of Nutella, call now, because any chocolate eaten by a cat is a reason to call. Our guide on whether cats can eat chocolate explains why.

A spoonful

One tablespoon carries about 43.8 milligrams. In the weight table above, a 10-pound dog reaches the 20 milligrams per kilogram mark, where mild signs can appear, at about 2.1 tablespoons, so two generous spoonfuls put a small dog right at that line. A 30-pound dog reaches it at about 6.2 tablespoons and a 50-pound dog at about 10. A 5-pound dog reaches it at about one tablespoon, so a single spoonful is already a meaningful dose for a toy breed.

Locks the pantry and the bin

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Several spoonfuls or a jar

Here your dog's size decides the urgency. A 10-pound dog reaches the 40 milligrams per kilogram mark, where heart effects become possible, at about 4.1 tablespoons, and the 60 mark, where seizures become possible, at about 6.2. A 30-pound dog reaches those marks at about 12 and 19 tablespoons, and a 50-pound dog at about 21 and 31. A puppy or toy breed that eats a jar can reach doses at which dogs can die, so call while someone else checks the label: divide the net weight in grams on the label by 18.5 and compare the total with your dog's row in the weight table above.

Jar raids tend to start where Nutella lives: a low pantry shelf, a breakfast counter or a lunchbox left on the floor. A latch that a nose cannot open, such as MyPet Safety Paws Mischief Minder strap locks, keeps the jar out of reach between breakfasts, and the same strap holds the trash-can lid down so an empty jar stays in the bin.

Xylitol-free

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Poochie Butter Peanut Butter Pumpkin Lickable Dog Treat, 12-oz jar

Xylitol-free peanut butter and pumpkin made for dogs. After a suspected ingestion, give no food until your vet says so.

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Nutella vs peanut butter, and the sugar-free spread warning

Nutella and peanut butter sit side by side in many pantries, and both get spread on toast, so it is easy to treat them as interchangeable. They are not. Plain peanut butter without xylitol is a common dog treat in small amounts, as our peanut butter guide explains. Nutella is a chocolate spread, and the cocoa is what makes the difference.

If your dog begs at breakfast and you like to share a lick of something, skip the Nutella and choose a spread made for dogs. Poochie Butter Peanut Butter Pumpkin Lickable Dog Treat is a xylitol-free peanut butter treat blended with pumpkin. Count it as part of your dog's treats for the day, and keep the human jar out of reach.

Dog-safe treat time

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LickiMat Classic Buddy Slow Feeder Dog Lick Mat, Turquoise

A textured lick mat for a smear of plain pumpkin, so your dog has its own slow treat while the family eats dessert.

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The bigger label risk runs the other way. Some peanut butters and some "sugar-free," "keto" or "no added sugar" chocolate spreads are sweetened with xylitol, also sold as birch sugar. In dogs, xylitol can cause a dangerous drop in blood sugar and, at higher doses, liver failure. Our guide to xylitol and dogs covers the signs and the products it hides in.

To make a dog-safe spread last, a LickiMat Buddy lick mat with a thin layer gives a dog that hovers at breakfast a slow treat of its own on its bed.

Sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts and the jar itself

The cocoa is the main poisoning risk, but it is not the only reason Nutella and dogs do not mix. The other ingredients and the container bring problems of their own:

• Fat from palm oil and hazelnuts. The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that the high fat content of chocolate products may trigger pancreatitis in susceptible animals. Signs can include repeated vomiting, belly pain and refusing food. Tell the vet if your dog has had pancreatitis before, because it changes the advice.
• Sugar. Lots of quick calories that can cause vomiting or diarrhea on their own, and add to weight gain if sharing becomes a habit.
• Milk. Many dogs digest dairy poorly; our guide to milk and dogs explains why.
• Hazelnuts. In Nutella they are ground smooth. Hazelnuts are not one of the nuts known as a classic dog toxin, the way macadamia nuts are, but they are fatty, and whole hazelnuts in chocolates, pralines or desserts can choke a small dog or cause a blockage.
• The jar, lid and seal. Dogs that steal a jar often chew it. Plastic or glass pieces can cut the mouth or lodge in the throat, stomach or intestines.

A missing piece of a plastic or glass jar, lid or seal is a reason to call your vet now, even if your dog seems fine, because a swallowed piece can cut the mouth or cause a blockage. Gagging, retching, drooling, repeated vomiting, a tender belly, straining to pass stool or not eating make it more urgent. Our bloated belly or retching guide helps you describe what you see.

Hazelnut chocolate bars and pralines

Is hazelnut chocolate bad for dogs? Yes, and for a hazelnut chocolate bar the chocolate type matters more than the nuts. Milk chocolate carries about 64 milligrams of theobromine and caffeine per ounce, and dark chocolate far more, so count it as chocolate first. Our guide to a dog that ate chocolate walks through the steps for any bar.

Nutella in crepes, cookies, brownies and puppy chow

Nutella rarely arrives on its own. It is spread on toast, folded into crepes, baked into cookies and brownies, and stirred into snack mixes, and each of those changes the call:

• Toast or a sandwich. Count the spread, not the bread. If your dog ate half a Nutella sandwich, estimate how many tablespoons went into the whole sandwich and halve it. Plain bread is a separate question covered in our bread guide.
• Crepes. Estimate the filling in tablespoons, and mention any fruit, cream or other toppings.
• Cookies and brownies. Nutella baked goods often also contain cocoa powder or chocolate chips, which add more theobromine than the spread alone. See our guides to a dog that ate brownies or chocolate chip cookies.
• Breadstick snack packs. Read the pack's net weight for the spread portion and convert it to tablespoons the same way as a jar.
• "Puppy chow." Despite the name, Nutella puppy chow, also called muddy buddies, is a people snack, not dog food: cereal coated in melted chocolate or spread, peanut butter and powdered sugar. Versions made with semisweet chips carry about 155 milligrams of theobromine and caffeine per ounce of chips, more than double milk chocolate.

Not sure what was in it? A dessert from a café, a party tray or a friend's kitchen often comes without a label. Say so on the call and give the vet your best estimate of the spread and any other chocolate. Our list of foods that are toxic to dogs covers other ingredients common in sweet baking.

Can Nutella kill a dog?

It can, if the dose is high enough, and a small dog that empties a jar is the situation to worry about most. The Merck Veterinary Manual places seizures at 60 milligrams per kilogram or more, and a 10-pound dog reaches that mark at about 6.2 tablespoons of chocolate hazelnut spread. There is no fixed lethal amount: published LD50 figures were measured for theobromine and caffeine as individual agents, not for a mixed food like Nutella or for any one dog, and individual dogs vary. Our guide to how much chocolate can kill a dog explains those figures, and the chocolate toxicity calculator guide explains the method.

If the vet asks you to come in, treatment can include decontamination, IV fluids and heart monitoring, depending on the dose. VCA Animal Hospitals notes that the sooner treatment begins, the better the outlook and the less costly the treatment. A policy bought today will not cover the Nutella your dog already ate, but it can cover future accidents and illness. The pet insurance planner builds a coverage checklist and links to Lemonade for a personalized quote, and our guide to emergency vet costs shows what a visit can involve.

Signs to watch for after a dog eats Nutella

Chocolate poisoning builds in steps as the dose rises: vomiting, diarrhea, thirst and restlessness first, then panting, a racing heart and tremors, and at the highest doses seizures and collapse. Signs usually start 2 to 12 hours after eating, according to Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Our guide to what happens when a dog eats chocolate walks through each stage, and the suspected poisoning symptom guide helps you describe what you see. Tremors, a seizure or collapse mean go now.

Frequently asked questions