Stella & Chewy's Wholesome Grain Raw Blend Baked Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 5.4/10, these foods are considered moderate risk. There are 4 recipes that average 33% protein and 27% carbohydrate as calculated. 

This is a line of baked kibble that is coated in freeze-dried raw protein and includes freeze-dried chunks but they aren’t a main constituent of the food. In theory, the addition of minimally processed proteins should boost the nutrients, but this will be reflected in the Guaranteed Analysis protein content.

Wholesome Grains Raw Blend Baked foods are made without corn, wheat, soy, potatoes or legumes. But this line includes barley, oatmeal and quinoa that contribute to a high carbohydrate content which loses quality points. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrate. Excessive carbohydrate are an indicator of low quality foods as they keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance.

Like all of Stella & Chewy’s lines, there are added vitamins and minerals. This often indicates a lower quality food that’s lacking naturally occurring nutrients from whole food sources. One recipe uses sunflower oil, which is a highly processed and highly inflammatory oil. Seed oils are an inexpensive alternative to higher quality animal fats and oils. 

It’s good to see that probiotics are included in these foods but the minimum CFU is only guaranteed in two recipes (Prairie and Red Meat).

The ingredient safety score is somewhat improved because these foods are baked so there is less processing and fewer nutrients are lost. But these recipes lose points for high pesticide or herbicide foods like barley and oats in the top five ingredients. This line also loses points for added natural flavor. This ingredient is often animal digest or MSG, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. 

Stella & Chewy’s uses organic fruits and vegetables. Organic ingredients are non-GMO and have much lower pesticide/herbicide risk than conventionally grown crops so no ingredient safety points are lost. But in this case, they are glam ingredients, which is a concern. These ingredients are added to make consumers think the food has healthy ingredients. But they’re listed below the salt, which means they’re present in tiny amounts and won’t benefit your dog. 

It’s worth noting that these recipes contain sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral.  

Stella & Chewy’s uses wild-caught fish which is good to see because it’s more nutritious, with better fatty acid balance. 

However, the label does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.