Hershey's Cocoa container unopened weight

November 4, 2019 1:19 PM

My dog (Merlin) got into an 8 oz container of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa while I was away this morning. The container currently weighs more than the advertised weight (226 grams) - it's weighing out to 259 grams. But there was definitely some on the floor and I assume he consumed some so I assume some of that weight is packaging. Does anyone have an unopened container they can weigh for me so I can do a worst case scenario math?
posted by macfly to Pets & Animals (8 answers total)

Response by poster: Dog tax
posted by macfly at 1:22 PM on November 4, 2019 [6 favorites]

Best answer: You could also just dump the contents in a bowl to see how much the container weighs.
posted by rockindata at 1:23 PM on November 4, 2019 [11 favorites]

When you figure that out, did you see this calculator that lets you put in the dog's weight and the amount of cocoa?
posted by pinochiette at 1:31 PM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

amazon lists the product weight at about 0.6 lbs which is more or less 272 grams. but i agree with the idea of putting the remaining cocoa temporarily in a bowl and weighing the empty container
posted by sheldman at 1:43 PM on November 4, 2019

You can always induce vomiting with some peroxide; That’s what multiple vets have told me with multiple dogs. Some puke may be worth the peace of mind, esp. since dark cocoa powder is more dangerous than eg a bar of milk chocolate, ymmv.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:48 PM on November 4, 2019 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I did the dump and measure idea and it turns out he ate negative cocoa. I think what happened is he chewed his way in but didn't like the taste so the small amount that was on the floor was incidental (no signs of licking it up) and he got a negligible amount. And it all ended up inside the accuracy of my kitchen scale so the way the math works out he got -2 grams by the scale but probably a gram or two at most in reality. Thanks for the idea! He seems fine, the stinker and I'll keep an eye out but I'm pretty confident he's under the limit.
posted by macfly at 1:50 PM on November 4, 2019 [17 favorites]

I did the dump and measure idea and it turns out he ate negative cocoa.

You blamed your scale's accuracy, but it's also possible the package was slightly overfilled, maybe on purpose! No company has perfect quality control, but there can be legal liability if they underfill. The solution is to make the average fill a little more than the promised amount (so that even packages that are a couple standard deviations below the mean are in the clear). Not that you need to worry about your dog having gotten a significant amount of cocoa -- with modern practices I doubt the overage would have been more than a few grams.
posted by aws17576 at 4:23 PM on November 4, 2019 [1 favorite]

No advice about the weighing, but I had a very similar situation involving a big thing of cocoa powder, a husky and a white bedspread. The bedspread was not salvageable, but the husky seemed to enjoy rolling in the powder more than eating it. I think it tastes about as appealing to them as to us. After a panicked call to dog poison control my dog was perfectly fine and probably tasted it once and then ate none. I think it's the delicious already made chocolate that goes down easier and is more dangerous.
posted by KMoney at 4:44 AM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]