Costco Sued Over Rotisserie Chicken Safety Concerns
Costco is facing legal action regarding its rotisserie chicken, with an animal rights nonprofit claiming that the company’s chicken processing facility in Nebraska has been contaminated with salmonella.
The class action lawsuit, filed on Thursday, refers to a December investigation by Farm Forward. This investigation pointed out serious safety violations at Costco’s Lincoln Premium Chicken Plant, operational since 2019 and capable of processing over 100 million chickens annually.
According to the lawsuit, the Fremont, Nebraska plant repeatedly failed to adhere to U.S. Department of Agriculture safety standards. Alarmingly, it reported that over 9.8% of whole chickens and 15.4% of chicken parts tested positive for salmonella.
Costco’s Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken is priced at $4.99 and has become a staple for customers, often drawing them into the store. The company recently shared that by 2025, global sales of its rotisserie chickens are expected to exceed 157 million units.
The complaint highlights that “Costco’s inability to manage salmonella in its chicken supply is not just a minor issue; it presents a serious risk to consumers and is a breach of trust.” As of Friday, neither Costco nor the Lincoln plant had responded to requests for comments, although it’s worth noting that Lincoln is not being sued.
The plaintiff, Lisa Taylor from Afton, Missouri, stated in her filing with a Seattle federal court that she regularly purchases one or two rotisserie chickens monthly from a Costco location in St. Louis. Taylor feels she overpaid due to Costco’s failure to inform customers about the contamination risk.
She is seeking damages and a tripling of compensation for customers who bought Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken and raw chicken parts after January 1, 2019, claiming Costco violated Washington state consumer protection laws and its implied assurance that its chicken was safe.
This lawsuit follows another class action that was launched last month in San Diego, accusing Costco of misleading advertising by stating its rotisserie chicken was preservative-free when it actually contained carrageenan and sodium phosphate.
Founded in 2007, Farm Forward aims to “end factory farming by changing agriculture, changing policy, and changing the narrative around livestock farming.”
