Costco Under Fire Over Rotisserie Chicken Claims

(KMDL-FM) I don't recall what the exact year was, but I do know it happened in my lifetime. Grocery stores went from selling raw chickens to completely cooked chickens, and those cooked chickens were better than anything I could make. And, the price was exceptionally cheap, too. Such was the case that was and has been made for years for the rotisserie chickens from the popular warehouse club.

Oddly enough, rotisserie chicken from Costco and Sam's Club has both gotten rave reviews at our house. Both stores do a marvelous job of selecting large meaty birds and roasting them to perfection. That's probably why there is always a line when the chickens come out at Sam's and or at Costco.

READ MORE: Target Updates and Eliminates Price Match Policy for Some Retailers

READ MORE: Costco To Strictly Enforce Weekend Shopping Policy

For its trouble, the folks at Costco go through more than 100 million chickens each year. The asking price for a Costco rotisserie chicken? It's $4.99. First, that's a great price. Second, Costco makes a lot of money selling yard birds, doesn't it?

Get our free mobile app

What's the Big Concern Over Costco's $4.99 Rotisserie Chicken?

Naturally, or at least it seems to happen naturally, anytime there is a good bargain for consumers on a product that people like, there always seems to be someone telling us the product is bad or at least bad for us. In the case of Costco rotisserie chickens, the food safety group Farm Forward is claiming that Costco's supplier, Lincoln Premium Poultry, has repeatedly received the lowest safety rating offered by USDA inspectors.

The safety rating suggests that there could be elevated levels of Salmonella contamination, and the potential for contamination has been around for multiple years. You might be wondering how great the risk of Salmonella is in a product that is fully cooked before consuming.

The concern comes from the elevated or potentially elevated Salmonella levels before the product arrives to be cooked. There are enhanced cross-contamination risks, and there are concerns that arise when reheating the product.

Are There Health Advisories and Recalls Posted for Costco Rotisserie Chicken?

As of now, there are no recall advisories or official notifications of concern over the rotisserie chickens sold at Costco. But the retailer has had issues with "bad chicken in the past". There were incidents in 2013 that forced a recall of nearly 40,000 pounds of chicken. Also, there was a health alert issued in 2016 over rotisserie chicken salad sold at a Costco store in Washington.

Costco has not issued an official response to the Farm Forward allegations and has no plans to curtail or alter any retail plans to sell the ready-to-eat, pre-cooked chickens in their stores.