--- description: Xylitol in sugarfree gum is toxic for dogs, says the Wall Street Journal title: Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Dog Eat Sugarfree Gum image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6d5b051ce65e2b0/69885ba25f570f6fd1b1c84d/dog-yoga.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Dog Eat Sugarfree Gum by [Benjamin Snyder / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Benjamin Snyder / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 5, 2015 3:54 PM CUT  Close up of face of obedient dog Close up of face of obedient dogGetty Images by [Benjamin Snyder / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Benjamin Snyder / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 5, 2015 3:54 PM CUT Do you buy a lot of gum? If it’s sugarfree, make sure you keep it away from your dog. [_The Wall Street Journal_ reports](http://www.wsj.com/articles/sweetener-in-gum-is-causing-surge-in-accidental-dog-poisonings-1446512402?alg=y "undefined") that sugarfree gum contains xylitol, an ingredient that can cause man’s best friend to get very sick. In fact, xylitol is over 100 times more toxic to dogs than milk chocolate, according to the newspaper. There appears to be a surge in the number of cases of dogs becoming sick from xylitol ingestion, the paper said: “We’ve seen a dramatic increase,” Dr. Ahna Brutlag, a veterinary toxicologist, told the _Journal_ in an interview. In 2015, there have already been 2,800 calls to the Pet Poison Helpline due to the sweetener being ingested by canines, up from 300 calls in 2009. As the newspaper reports: --- > “” --- Hershey sells sugarless gum products that contain xylitol. “We certainly understand the deep passion that pet owners have for their animals, but there are many foods and ingredients, including xylitol-containing foods, intended for human consumption that should not be consumed by animals or pets,” a Hershey spokesman told the _Journal_. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2015/11/03/xylitol-dog-poison-gum/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4101424/dog-sugarfree-gum-xylitol/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4101424/dog-sugarfree-gum-xylitol/"},"headline":"Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Dog Eat Sugarfree Gum","datePublished":"2015-11-05T15:54:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:22:47.847Z","description":"Xylitol in sugarfree gum is toxic for dogs, says the Wall Street Journal","url":"https://time.com/4101424/dog-sugarfree-gum-xylitol/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6d5b051ce65e2b0/69885ba25f570f6fd1b1c84d/dog-yoga.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Benjamin Snyder / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6d5b051ce65e2b0/69885ba25f570f6fd1b1c84d/dog-yoga.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dog","caption":"dog","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4101424/dog-sugarfree-gum-xylitol/","name":"Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Dog Eat Sugarfree Gum"}}]}] ```