Wellness CORE Wholesome Grains Original Turkey Recipe review

Wellness · CORE Wholesome Grains Original Turkey Recipe · Dry food · Adult maintenance

92 / 100Our label score

★★★★½4.5 of 5 stars, from the score

35%Crude protein (min)

2FDA recall events for the brand

On the facts printed on its own label, Wellness CORE Wholesome Grains Original Turkey Recipe scores 92 out of 100 on our rubric: top of the range we have scored. The panel opens with Deboned Turkey, and the first ingredient signal earns 20 of its 20 points. At 35% crude protein it ranks 2 of the 5 Wellness recipes we scored for protein. Crude fat reads 16%.

The brand carries 2 FDA posted recall events in our check, set out below with their dates; weigh their age as well as their count.

The panel runs to 55 ingredient lines. 7 of them are animal source lines and 12 are plant lines. The first added fat appears at line 6, so 5 lines sit ahead of it in the recipe by weight. The vitamin and mineral pack begins around line 17; the 39 lines from there on are mostly supplements, preservatives and functional extras rather than staple foods.

The label facts

Maker	WellPet
Format	Dry food
Life stage	Adult maintenance
Full ingredient list, in label order	Deboned Turkey Chicken Meal (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate) Oatmeal Turkey Meal Barley Chicken Fat Dried Plain Beet Pulp Flaxseed Turkey Liver Turkey Hearts Natural Flavor Dried Chicory Root Salmon Oil Taurine Choline Chloride Potassium Chloride Vitamin E Supplement Spinach Broccoli Carrots Parsley Apples Blueberries Kale Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness Vitamin B3 (Niacin) Zinc Proteinate Ferrous Sulfate Zinc Sulfate Iron Proteinate Vitamin A Supplement Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate) d-Calcium Pantothenate Sodium Selenite Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Copper Sulfate Manganese Sulfate Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Manganese Proteinate Copper Proteinate Biotin Vitamin D3 Supplement Yucca Schidigera Extract Vitamin B12 Supplement Folic Acid Calcium Iodate Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Product Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product Rosemary Extract Green Tea Extract Spearmint Extract
Guaranteed analysis	Crude protein (min) 35% · crude fat (min) 16% · crude fibre (max) 4.5% · moisture (max) 10%
Dry matter reading	With the water taken out, the same analysis reads 38.9% protein and 17.8% fat. Dry matter is how wet and dry foods can be compared fairly.
AAFCO adequacy	Not stated on the product page we read. The life stage above follows the maker's own description of the recipe.
Price	Not listed. We publish a price only when we have verified it from a dated listing, and we had not for this recipe when the label was read.

How the score breaks down

Signal	Points	What the label shows
First ingredient	20 / 20	Deboned Turkey, a named whole animal protein, opens the panel.
Animal protein depth, first 10 ingredients	15 / 15	6 of the first ten ingredients are named animal ingredients.
Protein level for the life stage	15 / 15	Crude protein reads 35% as labelled, read against the adult maintenance stage the label claims.
Fat level fit	10 / 10	Crude fat reads 16% as labelled.
Whole foods versus filler-flagged ingredients	10 / 10	None of the rubric's flagged ingredients appears in the first ten.
Artificial colours and preservatives	10 / 10	No artificial colours, colour-retention chemicals or artificial preservatives appear in the panel.
AAFCO adequacy basis	Not scored	No AAFCO adequacy basis was stated in the data we could verify, so this signal is not scored.
FDA recall history	3 / 10	2 FDA posted dog food recall events found for the brand in our November 2026 check.
Price tier	Not scored	Not scored in this round. We publish a price only when we have verified it from a dated listing.
Total	92 / 100	Scaled from 83 of 90 available points. Stars are the score divided by 20, rounded to the nearest half. The method is published in full on the dog food hub.

Ingredient notes: the first ten, one by one

Definitions below are written from AAFCO's ingredient definitions in our own words. They describe what an ingredient is, never what a brand claims about it. Names that appear in our ingredient dictionary link to it; the dictionary counts how many scored recipes carry each ingredient.

Deboned Turkey. Deboned Turkey is the named meat in fresh form. Panel order is set by weight before cooking, and fresh meat is mostly water, so its share of the finished food is smaller than its place at the top suggests.
Chicken Meal (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate). Chicken Meal (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate) is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
Oatmeal. Oatmeal is a whole grain that digests slowly and brings soluble fibre, a steady energy source in grain inclusive recipes.
Turkey Meal. Turkey Meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
Barley. Barley is a whole grain rich in beta glucan fibre, which feeds gut bacteria and slows digestion.
Chicken Fat. Chicken Fat is rendered fat from the named source. Fat is the densest energy in the recipe and carries much of its flavour.
Dried Plain Beet Pulp. Dried Plain Beet Pulp is the fibre left when sugar is extracted from sugar beets. It is a fermentable fibre that feeds the bacteria of the large intestine.
Flaxseed. Flaxseed is a plant seed bringing fibre and ALA, a plant omega 3. Dogs convert ALA to the active forms poorly, so it does not do the job fish oil does.
Turkey Liver. Turkey Liver is organ tissue from a named animal. Organs are dense in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, and they are a normal part of what a dog is built to eat.
Turkey Hearts. Turkey Hearts is organ tissue from a named animal. Organs are dense in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, and they are a normal part of what a dog is built to eat.

Who it suits

Active, lean dogs that burn through protein and hold weight easily
Owners who want a named whole meat, not a meal or a plant, at the top of the panel

Who should skip it

Dogs with a diagnosed condition: that choice belongs with their vet, not a review page

The brand's recall record

2012: Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix Large Breed Puppy food was recalled in May 2012 as a precaution over possible Salmonella contamination at the Diamond Pet Foods plant that made it. No Wellness lot tested positive.

2017: WellPet recalled a limited amount of Wellness 95% Beef Topper for Dogs in March 2017 over potentially elevated levels of naturally occurring beef thyroid hormone.

One event was a puppy food made for the brand at a contract plant in 2012; the other was a canned topper in 2017. Neither covered this recipe, and both are labelled so readers can weigh them.

See the full dog food recall tracker for recent events across all brands.

Other Wellness recipes we scored

Recipe	Score / 100	Protein	Format
CORE Puppy Chicken & Turkey Recipe	89	36%	Dry food
CORE Original	87	34%	Dry food
Complete Health Chicken & Oatmeal Recipe, Wholesome Grains	76	24%	Dry food
SIMPLE Limited Ingredient Diet Salmon & Potato Recipe	74	25%	Dry food

Feeding it

Switch foods gradually over about a week, mixing more of the new food into the old each day. Portion by calories, not by the look of the bowl: our feeding calculator works out a daily amount from your dog's weight, and this recipe's calorie line above is the number it needs.

Wellness CORE Wholesome Grains Original Turkey Recipe: our recipe review