Food expert issues warning to those who buy Costco's rotisserie chicken: 'They often contain...'

It hasn't been long since frozen meat at Costco had to be pulled down due to concerns about Listeria contamination, and now the retailer, which has been facing social media scrutiny over food quality, is under fire over its Kirkland Rotisserie Chicken. The warehouse retailer sells millions of those every day, but despite its popularity, one expert claims it is not good for consumers. Popular TikTok creator who goes by Non-Toxic Dad (@nontoxicdad), and regularly debunks nutrition myths, recently shared a video revealing an issue with popular food products from Costco.

In his video, which now has over 7.2 million views, the expert claims that Costco is guilty of selling dirty chicken to customers. Warning his viewers against buying the product, the creator explained that there were several things wrong with it. The first issue brought up by Non-Toxic Dad was the quality of the chicken used by the brand. "These chickens are only 6 weeks old, specially bred and raised in horrible conditions, and fed likely mostly GMO corn and soy to fatten them fast," he claimed. He further explained that these factory farms produce large chickens quickly, but their nutrition profile is much worse than free-range chickens that are regularly exposed to the sun and soil.

He further claimed that the birds raised for Costco are broiler chickens that have been genetically modified through breeding. "About 100 years ago in 1925, chickens lived for 112 days before being slaughtered at 2.5 pounds. Modern chickens, such as those raised by Costco, are slaughtered at only 47 days but at 5 pounds," he wrote in the caption. The second issue cited by the creator was the cleaning process. He claimed that chickens are sent to mass slaughterhouses where they are dipped in chemicals such as chlorine, which leaves harmful residue on the meat.

The next issue was with the ingredients, which included chemicals like sodium phosphate. According to the creator, these are linked to liver and kidney damage. "There is also Carrageenan which degrades into an extremely inflammatory agent and is possibly carcinogenic," he said.

According to FarmForward, Costco rotisserie chicken lists 11 ingredients, which include sodium phosphates. The report claimed that many of the ingredients are injected directly into the flesh to make it juicier and add flavor. The last issue that the creator talked about was plastic packaging. He claimed that the hot chicken is directly put in a plastic bag that is probably made of polyethylene terephthalate (AKA phthalates), which can seep into the food and cause hormone disruptions. "With an estimated 117 million rotisserie chickens eaten yearly in the U.S., it’s time to find a less toxic convenient food," the creator urged at the end of his video.

The creator is not the only one to raise the issue, as several creators in the past have raised similar concerns. A lot of viewers agreed with the information shared by the creator. "I worked at the chicken plant that distributed to Costco...I saw all the bad stuff, most info in this video is true, but I still eat it!" @nomans.lan wrote.

But despite the alarming content on the internet, some consumers of the product seem to be too much in love with it, as many refused to change their ways. "Bro, it’s cheap… don’t care if it is just out of the egg served in a garbage can," @americandream5440 admitted. "This is the best chicken on the market filled with high protein.. I eat 2 of these per week and I will NEVER believe anything anyone says about this chicken," @supegog added.

For more updates and similar videos, follow NonToxic Dad (@nontoxicdad) on TikTok