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Funyuns are a popular snack food, similar to chips or cheetos.
Like me, you probably often find yourself snacking on a bag of chips or funyuns while your dog stares into your soul.
Some things we snack on are okay for dogs to eat, while others can be detrimental to their health. So where do zesty onion flavor snacks like funyuns fall?
Are funyuns safe for dogs? Can dogs eat funyuns?
No dogs should not eat funyuns. This snack is packed full of salt and fat with zero nutritional value for dogs. Even a few funyuns can exceed a dog’s daily salt and fat intake. In addition, funyuns contain onion and garlic powder, as well as MSG, all of which are toxic to dogs in large quantities.
Below we will go into more details about dogs eating funyuns, the dangers, what to do if they eat funyuns, and much more.
Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
What Are Funyuns Made Of?
To understand if dogs can eat funyuns, we need to break down the ingredients and nutritional components.
Funyuns are essentially fried onions. They are made with wheat flour, cornmeal, salt, and various seasonings, including onion powder.
Onion is the primary flavor in Funyuns, but other ingredients add to the taste, like garlic and MSG.
One thing to note is that Funyuns do not contain authentic onion pieces. They are simply just onion flavored snacks with an onion ring imitation.
Funyun Nutritional Facts
A single serving of Funyuns has the following nutritional content:
- Calories: 180
- Fat: 8g (saturated fat: 1g)
- Sodium: 350mg
- Carbohydrates: 24g (fiber: 1g, sugars: 1g)
- Protein: 2g
- Calcium: 7mg
- Iron: 1mg
- Potassium: 52mg
Funyun Ingredients
Whole corn meal, enriched corn meal (corn meal, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil (corn, canola, and/or sunflower oil), maltodextrin (made from corn), onion powder, salt, monosodium glutamate, buttermilk, hydrolyzed corn protein, sugar, dextrose, natural flavors, and garlic powder. Contains milk ingredients.
As you can see, Funyuns are not particularly healthy for humans or dogs.
They are high in calories, sodium, and fat with little to no nutritional value.
Related Reading: Can Dogs Eat Cheetos? What You Need To Know (Vet Answers)
Can Dogs Eat Funyuns?
Dogs should not eat funyuns. This is because they contain onion powder and garlic powder, both of which can be toxic to dogs.
Onion and garlic are members of the Allium family. Allium vegetables can cause anemia in dogs due to a condition called Heinz body anemia.
Funyuns are also made with monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is harmful to dogs in large quantities.
MSG is a flavor enhancer that can cause symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and difficulty breathing in dogs.
If that’s not enough, funyuns are also high in fat and sodium.
Both of which can be harmful to dogs if they eat too much.
So can dogs have funyuns?
In short, no dogs should not have funyuns.
They contain too much sodium and fat and are made with ingredients that can be toxic to dogs.
They also offer no nutritional value whatsoever. And if you are wondering, can puppies eat funyuns?
Its even more important puppies don’t eat funyuns or any food without any nutritional value. They are growing and developing.
This means the require nutrient dense food that can help them grow and develop. Not wasted calories on foods that could potentially harm them.
Are Funyuns Bad For Dogs?
Funyuns are bad for dogs.
They are high in sodium and fat, which can harm dogs if they eat too much.
They also contain many ingredients dogs should not be eating. These include onion powder, garlic powder, and MSG, to name a few.
Dangers Of Dogs Eating Funyuns
While one or two flavored onion snacks may seem harmless, many dangers are associated with feeding your dog these.
Here are a few dangers dog owners should be aware of with dogs eating funyuns:
High In Fat
Funyuns are high in calories and fat. This can lead to obesity and weight gain if your dog eats it too often.
Over time, this extra weight can lead to other health problems like diabetes, joint pain, and more.
Acute pancreatitis can even occur from overconsumption in one sitting. This is very dangerous and can be life-threatening.
High Salt Content
Funyuns are incredibly salty, so they are harmful to dogs. The salt in funyuns is too much for a dog’s body to handle.
One serving of funyuns contains 350mg of salts. That’s almost half of the daily recommended amount for a human! And humans can intake and process salt much better than dogs.
In fact, the average dog should only have about 50-100mg of salt per day. So one serving of funyuns would be 3-7 times the amount they should have!
Dogs who consume too much salt could experience salt toxicity. Symptoms of salt toxicity include vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, muscle spasms, seizures, stomach pains, walking without balance, and Extreme thirst and urination.
Dangerous Additives
Funyuns contain various additives and preservatives, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), which can be dangerous for dogs.
MSG is a flavor enhancer that can cause symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, and difficulty breathing in dogs. While a tiny amount won’t hurt your dog, it’s still not something you want them to be eating.
It can also cause an increased heart rate and lead to dehydration.
Toxic Seasonings
Onion powder and garlic powder are a go-to for many seasonings.
These are both found in funyuns which can be toxic to dogs in large quantities and can cause anemia.
Anemia develops when your blood has lower-than-normal levels of healthy red blood cells.
Symptoms of onion or garlic poisoning in dogs include:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Lethargy and weakness
- No appetite
- Pale gums
- Fainting
- Increased heart rate
- Difficulty breathing
- Ataxia (lack of coordination)
- Red or brown discolored urine
- Hyper-salivation
It’s unlikely a dog eats enough funyuns that the garlic or onion powder would cause toxicity.
However, it’s something that, even in small amounts, can cause upset stomach and diarrhea in dogs.
Overeating
Another danger of feeding your dog funyuns is that they might overeat.
Dogs love the taste of these snacks and will often beg for more. But as we’ve already mentioned, they are high in calories and fat. So if your dog overeats, they could gain a lot of weight and develop pancreatitis or salt toxicity.
Allergies
Funyuns contain cornmeal and other corn-based products. As a result, dogs with corn allergies may have adverse reactions to eating Funyuns.
Symptoms of a corn allergy in dogs can include:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Hives
- Itching
- Swelling of the face, ears, or paws
If your dog displays any of these symptoms after eating anything containing corn, they may have an allergy.
Related Reading: Can Dogs Eat Salt And Vinegar Chips? What You Need To Know
Can Funyuns Kill Dogs?
Technically yes, funyuns can kill dogs. However, they would need to consume a significant amount for it to be fatal.
The main concern with dogs eating funyuns is the potential for pancreatitis or other health problems that could arise from overeating.
Dogs that overeat high fat, high sodium foods full of preservatives could develop pancreatitis, salt poisoning, or food bloat.
All of which could be fatal. Though a dog rarely eats enough funyuns to die, it could happen.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
Can Dogs Eat Hot Funyuns?
For the same reasons, a dog should not eat regular funyuns and should not eat hot funyuns.
Hot funyuns are packed full of salt and fat with zero nutritional value for dogs. In addition, hot funyuns contain onion and garlic powder, as well as MSG, all of which are toxic to dogs in large quantities.
Plus, adding the “hot” flavoring just makes things worse for dogs. Dog’s stomachs do not respond well to hot spices.
So dogs should not be eating hot funyuns, stick to regular dog food that designed for them.
Do Funyuns Contain Onions?
Funyuns contain onion powder as an ingredient, but there’s no actual onion in funyuns.
It’s just onion seasonings that give funyuns their onion flavor.
Final Thoughts
While one funyuns is unlikely to harm your dog, it’s not something you should be feeding them.
The high salt, fat, and calorie content are bad for dogs and can cause obesity, pancreatitis, and other health problems. Plus, the onion and garlic powder in Funyuns is toxic to dogs in large amounts.
So, it’s best to keep Funyuns away from your dog and give them healthy dog food instead.
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