Are Your Dog Treats Really As Healthy As They Promise To Be?

Check the ingredients on your pup’s favorite treats. If “molasses” is listed as one of them, then those little snacks may only be pretending to be healthy!

It’s not unusual for product descriptions to be arranged in order to sound healthy, even when they aren’t, in order to trick pup parents into buying them. According to veterinarian Karen Becker from the Mercola Healthy Pets website, molasses may not be the “healthy sweeteners” that they’re often advertised to be. Simply put, it’s just sugar with a fancier name.

Molasses, also known as black treacle in the UK, are made via the process of boiling sugarcane until they’re reduced to a bitter, thick product. This molasses is called black strap molasses and contain tons of vitamin B6, iron, magnesium, manganese, calcium, and potassium, making them pretty good for pups.

However, black strap molasses aren’t the ones being added to most dog foods and treats. Instead, molasses made from sugar beets are used. This kind of molasses is 50% sugar – sucrose, glucose, and fructose. They’re just a filler and a binder, as well as a cheap sweetener.

In reality, pups don’t need any added sugars in their treats, and those that contain these sweeteners can add to a pup’s risk of becoming obese or developing diabetes or cancer. So watch out for molasses and opt out of treats that use them! Do like and share to let other pup parents know!