Cocoa bean mulch smells like choco­late — to humans and to dogs. The mulch does indeed come from cocoa beans, from which we get choco­late. (The mulch is made from the shells.) Most dog own­ers know that choco­late is poi­so­nous to dogs. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, cocoa bean mulch can be poi­so­nous, too.

Choco­late con­tains theo­bromine and caf­feine. The same sub­stances are found in cocoa bean mulch. Dogs that swal­low too much can have vom­it­ing, diar­rhea, a very fast heart rate, tremors, and seizures. Death is uncom­mon but has happened.

How much cocoa bean mulch is too much? It’s hard to know. It depends on how much theo­bromine is in the mulch, and there’s no way for a pet own­er or gar­den­er to tell. The dog’s weight mat­ters, too; the small­er the dog, the greater the dan­ger. Also, the more mulch a dog eats, the greater the risk.

It’s best if dogs are kept away from ALL sources of choco­late, includ­ing mulch made from the dis­card­ed cocoa bean shells. Con­sult your vet­eri­nar­i­an.  If a dog does eat cocoa bean mulch, giv­ing hydro­gen per­ox­ide to cause vom­it­ing might be the first treat­ment. If a lot of mulch was eat­en, or if the dog is very small, the vet might want to give acti­vat­ed char­coal. Of course, any dog with symp­toms needs to go to the vet right away.

There are a lot of mulch choic­es. If you have pets, you may want to leave the cocoa mulch behind in the gar­den cen­ter and choose an alter­nate. If you have ques­tions about cocoa bean mulch, theo­bromine, caf­feine, or choco­late you can call the poi­son spe­cial­ists any time. The 24-hour num­ber is 1–800-222‑1222.

Rose Ann Gould Soloway, RN, BSN, MSEd, DABAT emeri­ta
Clin­i­cal Toxicologist