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Ingredient file // Fruit or vegetable

Apricots

A fruit for the label, not for nutrition

Apricots are the pitted fruit, fresh or dried, added to some kibble in small amounts. They bring sugar, a little fiber and some beta-carotene, but fruit listed after the salt may be present in amounts too small to add measurable nutrition.

What it is
The fleshy fruit of the apricot tree with the stone taken out, used fresh, dried or ground.
Made from
Ripe apricots, pitted, often dried
Main job
Label appeal, minor fiber
Typical amount
Not published; fruit after salt may be under a few grams per pound
Watch for
Pits, stems and leaves, not the flesh
Not the same as
Apricot kernels or kernel oil

Straight answer

Is Apricots safe for dogs?

A garnish fruit, not a nutrition source

Apricots sitting after the salt or vitamin premix are what Tufts calls fairy dust, fruit that may be present at less than a few grams per pound and that Tufts says is often contributing no measurable nutrients at that scale. Treat it as garnish, not nutrition.

Why it is in the food
Label appeal, minor fiber

Our read // In our catalog

In 1 of every 3,204 foods we track

Share of foods that list it

<1%

1 of the 3,204 foods with an ingredient list on file, from 1 brand. All dry dog food.

Each square is 1% of the catalog

Where it sits on the label

Median position 17. In the top five of 0 foods, so it is usually a minor ingredient.

Top five List position, heaviest first

Above the salt

0%

Usually listed after the salt, which caps it at roughly 1% of the recipe in 100% of foods.

Who leans on it

100%

of the foods that list it are from NutriSource. 1 brand use it in total.

What it is

How it is made

Apricots come from the fruit trade, which sells them fresh, canned and dried. Pet food uses the same pitted fruit, usually dried, since fresh apricot is mostly water and its dry part is mostly sugar.1,2,6

  1. 01 // Source Ripe apricots Fresh fruit is about 86% water. Most of what remains is sugar, with some fiber.
  2. 02 // Process Pitted The stone comes out. Its kernel holds amygdalin, which turns into cyanide after it is eaten.
  3. 03 // Process Dried and sulfured USDA's standard dried apricot is sulfured and holds about 31% water, down from 86% fresh.
  4. 04 // Output Dried apricot A shelf-stable fruit that is about 77% sugar and 11% fiber on a dry basis, ready to weigh in.

What is in it

Composition, dry matter

68

% sugars

About two-thirds of a fresh apricot's dry weight is sugar. It is a sweet fruit first, and a modest fiber source second.

Sugars, fresh fruit 67.9%1
Sugars, dried fruit 77.3%2
Dietary fiber, fresh fruit 14.7%1
Crude protein, fresh fruit 10.3%1
Ash, fresh fruit 5.5%1
Potassium, fresh fruit 1.9%1
Beta-carotene 57-487 mg/kg3

USDA rows are converted from as fed values to dry matter. Variety drives beta-carotene, which varied about 8-fold across Turkish apricots. Dried, sulfured fruit runs higher in sugar and lower in fiber than fresh.1,2,3

Why it is in the bag

What the manufacturer gets

  1. 01

    Makes the label appealing

    Tufts nutritionists say some ingredients are added solely for marketing. Fruits listed after salt or the vitamin premix may be present at less than a few grams per pound.8

  2. 02

    A little fiber and sugar

    On a dry basis fresh apricot is about 68% sugar and 15% fiber. At fairy dust levels, Tufts says such ingredients often contribute no measurable nutrients.1,8

  3. 03

    A named beta-carotene source

    Apricots carry 57 to 487 mg beta-carotene per kg dry, enough to mention on a bag. The immune effects seen in dogs came from purified supplement doses.3,4

How much No source publishes how much apricot kibble holds; Tufts says fruit listed after the salt may be present at less than a few grams per pound.8

Our read // The claims

What the evidence supports

Strong: controlled studies in dogs agree. Some: small or mixed dog data. Thin: mechanism or lab work only. None: nothing, or the evidence points the other way.

  1. Brands say

    Beta-carotene from apricots boosts a dog's immune system

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    One Beagle trial fed purified beta-carotene at 20 or 50 mg a day and saw some immune markers rise over 8 weeks. The cited trial did not test apricot. Fresh apricot holds about 1.1 mg per 100 g, so 20 mg means about 1.8 kg of fruit daily.1,4

  2. Brands say

    Apricots add fiber and potassium to the diet

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    Fresh apricot is about 15% fiber and 1.9% potassium on a dry basis, so the content is real. Listed after the salt, fruit may be present at under a few grams per pound, which Tufts says often contributes no measurable nutrients.1,8

  3. Brands say

    Apricot antioxidants protect dogs from cell damage

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    Turkish apricots measured 4,234 to 8,180 mg gallic acid equivalents of phenolics per 100 g dry. That is a lab measurement of the fruit; the cited work did not feed apricot to dogs or measure an antioxidant effect.3

  4. Owners say

    Apricots are toxic to dogs

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    ASPCA lists the apricot plant as toxic because stems, leaves and seeds carry cyanogenic glycosides. The flesh is not named. The danger is a chewed pit or plant parts, which pitted fruit in kibble leaves out.5,6

Straight answers

What owners ask

  1. Q01

    Is it just filler?

    No, garnish

    It is not there for bulk. When fruit sits after the salt, Tufts says it may be present at less than a few grams per pound, often contributing no measurable nutrients. That makes it garnish for the label, not filler.8

  2. Q02

    Can my dog eat a fresh apricot?

    Flesh only

    The flesh is not on the ASPCA's toxic list; the pit, stem and leaves are. Pits hold amygdalin, which forms cyanide, and cyanide kills people at 0.5 to 3.5 mg per kg of body weight.5,6

  3. Q03

    Is the fruit sugar a problem?

    Not in kibble

    Dried apricot runs about 77% sugar on a dry basis. But fruit listed after the salt may be present at less than a few grams per pound, which Tufts says often contributes no measurable nutrients.2,8

Who uses it

Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps

Top brands, by foods that list it

  1. NutriSource 1 / 91

Foods that list it / all the brand's recipes we track.

Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it

  1. Salmon 100%
  2. Salmon Meal 100%
  3. Potatoes 100%
  4. Oatmeal 100%
  5. Barley 100%
  6. Peas 100%
  7. Sunflower Oil 100%
  8. Flax Seed 100%
  9. Natural Salmon Flavor 100%
  10. Calcium Carbonate 100%

On the shelf

Foods that list Apricots

1 food in our catalog lists it, highest on the label first.

NutriSource PureVita Salmon & Potato Entree Dry Dog FoodNutriSourceNutriSource PureVita Salmon & Potato Entree Dry Dog FoodDry // No. 17 on the label

Sources

What we read

Checked October 1, 2026.

  1. 1 Apricots, raw (FDC ID 171697, SR Legacy) USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019 // Government
  2. 2 Apricots, dried, sulfured, uncooked (FDC ID 173941, SR Legacy) USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2019 // Government
  3. 3 Some compositional properties of main Malatya apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) varieties Food Chemistry, 2008 // Journal
  4. 4 Dietary beta-carotene stimulates cell-mediated and humoral immune response in dogs The Journal of Nutrition, 2000 // Journal
  5. 5 Apricot: toxic and non-toxic plants ASPCA Animal Poison Control, n.d. // Nonprofit
  6. 6 Apricot kernels pose risk of cyanide poisoning European Food Safety Authority, 2016 // Regulator
  7. 7 The Role of Thiamine and Effects of Deficiency in Dogs and Cats Veterinary Sciences, 2017 // Journal
  8. 8 Why you shouldn't judge a pet food by its ingredient list Petfoodology, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, 2016 // University
An ingredient on its own tells you very little. What matters is how much of it there is and where it sits in the list. That is why we weigh the top five rather than reacting to any single name further down. Back to the wiki

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