Can Dogs Eat Rice Krispie Treats?

The purpose of this research is to explain “Can Dogs Eat Rice Krispie Treats?“.

It might seem odd to ask whether dogs can eat Rice Krispie treats.

People surely do not feed these to their dogs instead of dog biscuits do they?

My guess is that most dog owners wouldnot do such a thing.

I do believe that there are many dog owners with young children who are snacking on all kinds of foods inside the house.

One possibility is Krispie treat bars.

A lot of toddlers who wander around and eat tend to have food that is very dog friendly.

Since I have a grandson in the same boat I should know.

In normal circumstances my dogs wouldnot try to steal food from him.

However it does not mean they will never do so.

It is in this context that I would like to take a close look at Rice Krispie bars and determine just how dog-friendly they are.

What is Rice Krispie treats?

A Rice Krispie treat is a sticky gooey bar or chunk of Rice Krispies held together by sugary ingredients.

There are two types of Rice Krispie treats.

The first option is to buy ready-to-eat snacks from a shop.

Kelloggs makes these so you know they’re good!

Secondly these treats are made at home.

What is interesting is that Kellogs has published a recipe for you to follow.

I’m going to compare the ingredients that are in the ready-to-eat Krispie treats with those in the homemade recipe in this article.

From there you can determine whether they are safe for your dog to eat. 

What are the ingredients in ready-to-eat Rice Krispie treats?

There are actually twelve different kinds of Rice Krispie treats. 

I did not realize how many there were.

Firstly I will talk about the ingredients that are in the “original” treat bars and then I will discuss the ingredients that are in the different varieties.

Original bars contain the following ingredients:

• Rice
• Sugar
• Salt
• Malt flavor
• Niacinamide
• Vitamin B2
• Folic acid
• Corn syrup 
• Fructose
• Vegetable oil
• Sugar 
• Corn syrup solids

Rice

This ingredient list is comforting because rice is listed as the first ingredient which means that it is the most important ingredient.

Thats great theres nothing wrong with rice. Your dog will not be harmed by this healthy grain.

Sugar

Sugar is the next most commonly used ingredient in these bars.

Oh dear we all know how bad sugar can be. Both in terms of weight gain and tooth decay. Not just for humans but also for dogs. 

However theres a problem.

Near the end sugar is mentioned again.

Not only that but also.

If we look down the ingredients list we can see that many of the other ingredients are forms of sugar.

In addition to corn syrup corn syrup solids and fructose are all sugar products. 

Another way of putting it is that five out of twelve ingredients are sugar.

A 22 g bar of Rice Krispie treats contains the following nutrition information (the panel to our right). There are 16 grams or 72% sugar!

Dogs can eat sugar without being poisoned or toxic.

There are however some unpleasant side effects of eating too much sugar. 

A dogs diet should contain as little sugar as possible just as it is for humans. 

Salt

Salt is the third most common ingredient.

As we can see from the nutrition facts each bar contains 5% of the recommended daily salt intake for an adult human being. 

A dog does not need much more than that.

The remaining ingredients are as follows. 

The malt flavor (which is actually another sugar) comes from adding water to barley grain and then heating it. 

It is common for cereals to be fortified which means that vitamins have been added to the recipe.

There are three vitamins added to Rice Krispie treats niacinamide (which is vitamin B3) vitamin B2 and folic acid.

Theres no need to worry about your dogs symptoms.

I would like to reiterate before I discuss other varieties and flavors of Rice Krispie treats that the original bars do not contain any toxic ingredients.  

Can dogs eat chocolate Rice Krispie treats?

Five of the remaining eleven varieties of treat bars can be purchased with chocolate.

The following are their names: 

• Treats with Cookies ‘n Creme
• Milk Chocolate M&Ms
• Cocoa Krispie treats
• Cocoa Krispie treats with M&Ms
• Homestyle chocolate bars. 

Theobromine a chemical found in chocolate is toxic for dogs because their bodies cannot absorb it.

When a dog sniffs chocolate it isnot poisonous right away there are other factors to take into account.

A dogs poisonousness is largely determined by the type of chocolate it consumes.

Dark chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate because it contains more theobromine. 

Dogs of different sizes have different needs. Smaller dogs that eat the same amount of chocolate as bigger dogs are more vulnerable. 

There are some awesome online calculators that can help dog owners determine how concerned they should be about chocolate poisoning.

You simply need to know the weight of your dog and the type of chocolate they ate.

A calculator of this type can be found here. 

There is a problem with the Rice Krispie Treats containing chocolate because we do not know how much chocolate is in the recipe or what kind of chocolate is used. 

Its good to see that chocolate is one of the least used ingredients in the recipe.

Since we are not sure how much chocolate was used we can assume your dog will be fine if they accidentally eat a small amount of chocolate treats.

How your dog does if they manage to steal and eat a whole box of chocolate-flavored Krispie bars will depend largely on its size. 

Can dogs eat homemade Rice Krispie treats?

After looking at the ready-to-eat bars that you can buy in your local store it is now time to look at the recipe that Kellogs published so that you can make these treats yourself.

There are many recipes available and Kellogs recipe is only one of them.

I would have to spend all day looking at them if I tried.

The Kelloggs recipe contains what ingredients?

• Rice Krispies cereal 6 cups
• Butter 3 tablespoons
• The recipe includes four cups of jet-puffed marshmallows.

Rice Krispies contain rice sugar salt and malt flavoring so we already know what ingredients they contain.

While some of these ingredients are not ideal for your dog most of them are not toxic.

Marshmallows and butter both have the same properties.

Dogs are not toxic to butter.

However it is 81% fat and if salted it will also contain high amounts of sodium. 

Although it isnot poison its not ideal either. 

The next item is marshmallows.

Theres no need to be surprised that these are little soft cushions of sugar.

In marshmallows there are six main ingredients:

• Corn syrup
• Sugar (of course!)
• Dextrose
• Modified Cornstarch
• Water 
• Gelatin

All three ingredients are the sugar in one form or another.

The marshmallows are thickened using modified cornstarch and gelatin which also provide texture and shape. 

All of these ingredients are not known toxins for dogs which is great news. 

Two dangerous ingredients in Rice Krispie Treats

Another popular recipe for homemade Rice Krispie cakes does include vanilla extract. 

Most people are unaware that vanilla extract is over 30% alcohol. 

Dogs should not be given alcohol- it should be treated like poison.

Vanilla extract is used in a very small amount in this recipe but if you can find a recipe without it that would be best. 

Let me briefly mention xylitol as another ingredient.

Xylitol has now become a sugar substitute. 

Instead of sugar it is used because it has the same sweetness as sugar but with fewer calories.

Although there is no good reason for sugar to be added to a Rice Krispie treat recipe if you come across one or you are tempted to replace it with xylitol please do not.

Dogs are highly toxic to xylitol and could even die from it. 

It goes without saying that you should not make or share Rice Krispy treats with any amount of chocolate!

Can dogs eat Rice Krispie treats?

Treats made from Rice Krispies are as healthy for dogs as they are for us!

In place of these there are many far healthier human foods that you can give your dog.

Even so if your dog bites your children when they are around him they will not suffer any harm.

A dog who steals homemade treats or ready-to-eat treats will probably get diarrhea as a result.

You will have to deal with an angry parent.

You might be exposing your dog to chocolate poisoning if your dog steals a box of store-bought Rice Krispie treats containing any form of chocolate.

Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine which dogs cannot absorb properly. 

Hence if this has happened to your dog and they exhibit any of the following symptoms you should call your veterinarian immediately. 

The symptoms are:

• Restlessness
• Racing heart
• Panting
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

If you want to read more about dog food tips read here: Dog Food Tips and Tricks.

Can Dogs Eat Rice Krispie Treats? (Watch Video)