Can Dogs Eat Welch’s Fruit Snacks?

Can dogs eat Welch’s fruit snacks? If you are looking for an answer to this question, probably you are planning to share Welch’s fruit snack with your dog or he has already consumed some off your candy bag or floor.

Welch’s fruit snack is a common fruit snack that is produced and marketed by Promotion in Motion Companies under the authority of Welch Foods, Inc. The snacks come in over 10 varieties or package options, allowing customers to choose what best suits their taste buds and lifestyle. But are the snacks safe for your dog?

Well, before answering the question, let’s first look at the composition of Welch’s fruit snacks.

Composition of Welch’s fruit snack

According to Welch’s official website, the main ingredients of Welch’s fruit snacks include concentrates (pear, peach, grape, and pineapple), corn syrup, sugar, fruit purees (grape, raspberry, orange, and strawberry), citric acid, gelatin, sodium citrate, lactic acid, vitamin C, artificial flavors, vitamin A palmitate, carnauba wax, vitamin E, Yellow 5, Blue 1, and Red 40.

From the above composition, here are a few facts that you should understand for you to decide whether or not the fruit snack is safe for your dog:

• Fruit concentrates are essentially juices that have been made by removing all the water from the original fruit. This simply implies that they have more sugar than typical fruits because they are concentrated.

• Corn syrups are heavy-duty processed sweeteners made from fructose and glucose.

• Modified corns are corn starches that have been chemically modified to make them thicker and more stable. While they are not necessarily harmful to dogs or humans, they add no nutritional value to food.

• According to slate.com, a single serving of Welch’s fruit snack contains 11 grams or about 3 teaspoons of sugar, which implies that 43% of every bite that your dog takes is pure sugar.  

• Vitamin A and E that you see in the ingredients of the fruit snack are artificially added.

• The fruit purees used in making fruit snacks are often stripped off the main ingredients that organoleptically qualify them as fruits. So, they are mostly sugar. Besides, they lack dietary fiber, one of the main nutritional benefits of real fruits.

So, Can Dogs Eat Welch’s Fruit Snacks?

The short answer is NO. While Welch’s Fruit Snacks aren’t toxic to dogs because they contain mostly fruit juices and sugar, they are NOT HEALTHY for dogs. From our composition analysis of Welch’s Fruit Snacks, it is apparent that the snacks are nothing but a lot of sugars, sweeteners, artificial flavors, and preservatives, which are associated with a wide range of health issues in dogs including obesity, diabetes, inflammation, and cardiovascular issues. Excess sugar can also cause tooth decay and other dental issues in dogs.

Steps To Take When Your Dog Accidentally Munches Welch’s Fruit Snacks

The most logical thing to do when your canine friend accidentally consumes Welch’s fruit snack is simply to take the rest of the snack away and monitor your dog over the next few hours or days. If you notice any abnormal signs, take him to your local vet immediately for a checkup.

To avoid similar issues in the future, keep your snacks away from your pooch. If you want something that he can snack in between his meals, get him healthy chews.

The verdict

If you are looking to give your dog well-balanced snack, with plenty of vitamins and minerals, go for real fruits (good fruits for dogs also contain potassium and fiber). Avoid fruit snacks as they are nothing more than sugar, sweeteners, and dyes.