Can Dogs Eat Starburst? What the Label Says

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No chocolate or xylitol on the label. It’s sugar and corn syrup.Nothing from ASPCA’s avoid list on this label, but a chewy candy is sugar and not dog food.

Starburst are chewy fruit candies that come individually wrapped, and dogs don’t always care about the wrapper.

What is on the label

I pulled the ingredient list for Mini Starburst Fruit Chews Original from Open Food Facts (product code 0022000014702). Ingredients are listed from the most to the least by weight.

Sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, less than 2% of: citric acid, sodium citrate, pectin, apple juice from concentrate, mono – and diglycerides, confectioner’s glaze, natural and artificial flavors, color (yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), carnauba wax,

Recipes change, and flavors and package sizes can differ, so read the bag you actually have before you rely on this list.

What matters for your dog

Sugar. Plain sugar isn’t poisonous to dogs, but it adds calories a dog doesn’t need. Sugar and corn syrup are the first two ingredients.
Xylitol check. Pet Poison Helpline says xylitol is a sweetener found in many products, not just gum, and that it can cause life-threatening low blood sugar and liver failure in dogs. Xylitol is not on this label.
Nothing else from ASPCA’s list. I compared this label to ASPCA’s list of people foods to avoid and didn’t find onion, garlic, chives, chocolate, caffeine, xylitol, grapes, raisins or macadamia nuts.

About Starburst

The Mini Starburst Original label lists sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, citric acid, sodium citrate, pectin, apple juice from concentrate, confectioner’s glaze, flavors, colors and carnauba wax. There’s no chocolate, xylitol, onion or garlic.

That makes it a sugar problem, not a poison problem, as far as ASPCA’s list goes. The part I’d watch is the wrapper: if a dog ate wrapped candy, mention that to your vet, because the wrapper is not food either.

Starburst comes in many versions, including sour, gummies and sugar-free ones. Sugar-free candy is where xylitol turns up, per Pet Poison Helpline, which says it can cause life-threatening low blood sugar and liver failure in dogs. I checked the Original.

If your dog already ate some

Write down what it was, how much, when, and your dog’s weight, and keep the package. Then call your vet, ASPCA Poison Control at (888) 426-4435, or Pet Poison Helpline at (855) 764-7661.

Don’t wait for symptoms if the snack has chocolate, xylitol, or a lot of onion or garlic in it. And don’t try to make your dog vomit with salt or salt water. Pet Poison Helpline says that can cause salt poisoning.

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