Costco shoppers told to avoid one of its most popular items by watchdog group in latest study

At a price of just $4.99, the rotisserie chicken is one of the most popular Costco items.

PUBLISHED NOV 4, 2025

Representational image shows man with a shopping cart looking at frozen food products at Costco (Cover image source: Getty Images | Justin Sullivan)

As one of the most trusted retail chains in America, Costco is expected to deliver high quality at lower costs. But recently, it has been hit by product recalls and customers calling it out online because of contamination and lower quality of food products. Its rotisserie chicken is tempting at $4.99, but a recent study showed that it might not be the safest for consumption.

Customer pushing a Trolley in Costco | (Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Joe Raedle ) — Representative image of a customer pushing a Trolley in Costco | (Image Source: Getty Images | Joe Raedle )

The rotisserie chicken deal is inflation-proof, which causes users to flock to the stores to purchase it. The item can last several days and is a fantastic option, especially for low-income individuals and families. It has even been reported that this item incurs the most losses of any item in Costco, but the company is ready to shoulder that loss. This is due to a couple of reasons. The first is that the supermarket chain heavily relies on memberships for its revenue.

So, if customers keep renewing their memberships each year, the company can afford to incur some losses. Secondly, Costco invested $450 million in a poultry facility in Fremont, Nebraska, in 2019. This complex processes 100 million chickens per year. Lincoln Premium Poultry is the company that supplied the chickens. Despite all of this, the rotisserie chicken has been a matter of debate for a few years now.

Representative image of the rotisserie chicken sold in Costco (Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by Smith Collection/Gado)

According to a report in TheStreet, an undercover investigation led to the revelation that the chickens kept at this facility were often held in overcrowded conditions, which led to a lot of these birds suffering from visible injuries. However, both Costco and Lincoln Premium Poultry came out with a statement saying that they were “committed to maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare, humane processes and ethical conduct throughout the supply chain.”

Even if one looks past the alleged animal cruelty allegation, there is a matter of health and safety that needs to be addressed for consumers. Salmonella is a bacterium that can be found in poorly handled or cooked poultry. In 2022, the USDA announced reforms to the poultry industry to protect consumers against this bacterium. However, these reforms were rolled back in 2025.

Representative image of a cooked chicken meal. (Image Source: Getty Images| Photo by Rotisserie Chicken)

Recently, a non-profit organization called Farm Forward released a study that found multiple popular poultry brands had salmonella levels much higher than federal safety limits in their chickens. One of those brands was Lincoln Premium Poultry. The company has responded to the study, stating that it “treats the safety of its products as an utmost concern.”

There has been no response about the matter from Costco yet, but they certainly are not holding back on selling the chicken in their stores for cheap. Customers who are aware of the Farm Forward study might think twice before buying the chicken, even though it's cheaper.