Costco continues pulling products off its shelves as a wave of listeria contamination sweeps the country. Within the past week, the wholesale giant sent separate notices to its members announcing the recall of three products.
Which Costco Products Are Affected?
After Costco recalled several ready-to-eat chicken products earlier this month — including various Rana products — the discount giant has now added three new items to its growing recall list, including Nutristore Freeze-Dried Deluxe Meat, Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon and the breakfast staple Krusteaz Belgian Waffles.
Here’s what you need to know about each product and why they’re on the recall list.
Nutristore Freeze Dried Deluxe Meat Variety #10 Cans
Nutrsistore notified Costco members who bought Nutristore’s 12-count Deluxe Meat Variety #10 Cans (item #1638795) to avoid consuming any remaining cans of the grilled chicken portion due to potential listeria contamination and return them to Costco for a full refund.
The notice adds that only the chicken in this pack is affected; all other Nutristore products are safe.
Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon
On Oct. 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Kirkland Signature Smoked Salmon. Costco’s supplier, Acme Smoked Fish Corporation also notified customers about the smoked salmon sold between Oct. 9 and Oct. 13 in Florida, identified by lot #8512801270, after lab tests confirmed the presence of listeria monocytogenes.
Krusteaz Belgian Waffles
Costco’s recall also includes Krusteaz Belgian Waffles in 24-count packages, supplied by TreeHouse Foods. Although no specific lot number was provided, TreeHouse Foods issued the recall due to contamination concerns in waffles purchased between Oct. 13 and Oct. 21. Customers can identify affected packages with item number 54734 and are encouraged to return them to Costco.
Earlier this month, frozen waffles from TreeHouse Foods were also recalled from Walmart and Target.
Why So Many Recalls?
The onslaught of food recalls — listeria in 12 million pounds of meat, E. coli in McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, and many others — has been hard to ignore lately, raising the question: Are companies deprioritizing food safety? Not intentionally, says Darin Detwiler, a food safety adviser and professor at Northeastern University who told Huffington Post that pressures like labor shortages, inflation, and increased demand could plausibly be impacting food safety practices.
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