Most people believe that their dogs will eat anything, and while some of their culinary preferences seem as discerning as a garbage can, there are actually foods that might be dangerous to your pet.
Thankfully, most fruit and vegetables are generally safe for dogs, and strawberries are certainly on this list of tasty treats that your pooch can eat. Given as a fresh or frozen treat, raw strawberries can be a good source of vitamin C and other nutrients that may not be abundant in most dog food.
If you feed strawberries to your dog as an occasional treat, the only thing that will happen is you probably get a happier, healthier pooch. The antioxidants and other benefits of strawberries we seek as humans are also great for dogs. A few of these important nutrients include:
In addition to the known health benefits of these vitamins and minerals, it turns out that strawberries also carry enzymes that help to whiten your dog’s teeth.
When you introduce any new food into your dog’s diet, you should start slowly. Feeding your dog strawberries could cause an allergic reaction, or your pet may simply experience an upset stomach from too much of a new food.
The primary danger to dogs from eating strawberries is that they may present a choking hazard or even create an intestinal blockage. If you have a small dog, you can always cut strawberries into smaller, bite-sized pieces if you are afraid that your furry friend could suffer from a blockage or choking hazard from trying to eat too quickly.
Canned strawberries or other fruit can contain preservatives and sweeteners such as xylitol that can be deadly to dogs. The dangers of xylitol are present in other human food used as dog treats, though, with popular snacks like peanut butter featuring this potentially dangerous sugar alcohol.
Keeping to a balanced diet and counting calories, especially for smaller dogs, is vital. Adding too much sugar content to your pooch’s diet can lead to unexpected weight gain or other problems. This is another reason fresh strawberries are better than canned, as the amount of natural sugar in fresh or frozen strawberries is relatively low.
Another concern some people have about feeding strawberries to dogs is the presence of pesticides. Strawberries can carry higher levels of agricultural chemicals than other fruits and veggies, and this could be potentially damaging to your dog’s health. Pesticides and contaminants can be a concern in the food industry at large, which is one reason FruitSmart offers many of our products in organic versions as well.
Other fresh fruit such as cranberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or even watermelon can also be a healthy snack or a low-calorie sweet treat that your pooch will enjoy, but you need to be careful that you only feed fresh fruit due to the presence of potentially dangerous preservatives and sweeteners in canned fruit.
Despite their low sugar content, it is important to remember that dogs are still primarily carnivores. While they will eat anything, they still need a diet high in healthy protein sources to stay healthy and active. This is why many premium dog food brands now feature whole natural protein sources such as salmon, chicken, or bison to help our furry friends protect everything from their coats to their immune systems.
At FruitSmart we know the value of quality produce for all our customers, whether their products are meant for people or their furry friends. The potential dangers of pesticides in strawberries is just one example of why we work hard to ensure all our products are sourced from the highest quality growers. We know that everything from our NFC juices to concentrates of our fruit solids need to be of the highest quality and consistency to ensure the health benefits of fresh fruit make it all the way to the finished product.
Consumers are getting increasingly picky about the products they buy, and with each passing year more and more attention is being placed on keeping a short ingredient list. Finding natural sources of sugar and replacing food colorings with natural products is an ever more powerful way to appeal to consumer sentiment about the food people buy for themselves and their pets. Replacing sweeteners with the natural sugars in fruit can help your products achieve that coveted clean-label status by eliminating additives of which consumers are increasingly wary.
Whether you are making tasty treats for humans or their furry companions, FruitSmart has the ingredients you need to make the products you buy stand out in a crowded market. Our commitment to quality and consistency, and to working with our partners to create innovative products, can help you build the lasting loyalty brands need to thrive. If you are ready to learn more about the benefits FruitSmart offers to our partners, contact us today.