{"id":158895,"date":"2026-02-01T07:15:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T07:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/158895\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T07:15:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T07:15:28","slug":"costcos-sued-over-iconic-rotisserie-chicken-no-preservatives-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/158895\/","title":{"rendered":"Costco’s sued over iconic rotisserie chicken ‘no preservatives’ claim"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Costco\u2019s famed $4.99 rotisserie chicken is under fire in a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that the big box warehouse falsely advertised that its birds were preservative free. <\/p>\n

Two California shoppers say Costco mislead customers nationwide by prominently advertising its rotisserie chicken as containing no preservatives, while discreetly listing two added preservatives \u2014 sodium phosphate and carrageenan \u2014 in fine print in the ingredient list.<\/p>\n

\u201cCostco Wholesale Corporation has systemically cheated customers out of tens\u2014if not hundreds\u2014of millions of dollars by falsely advertising its Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken as containing \u2018no preservatives\u2019,\u201d according the complaint filed in California\u2019s Southern District Court on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Sodium phosphate and carrageenan are common food additives. Sodium phosphate is used to preserve moisture and enhance flavor in processed foods, while carrageenan is added to thicken and stabilize products like meats.<\/p>\n

Studies have linked excessive sodium phosphate intake to kidney strain<\/a> and cardiovascular risks, and carrageenan to digestive inflammation<\/a> and gut irritation. However, the Food and Drug Administration says both are safe to use at approved levels.<\/p>\n

Costco did not immediately respond to The Times\u2019 request for comment, but said in a statement to USA Today<\/a> that it had removed the no preservatives statements in store and online in order to \u201cmaintain consistency among the labeling on our rotisserie chickens and the signs in our warehouses\/on-line presentations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two plaintiffs, Bianca Johnston and Anatasia Chernov, purchased Costco rotisserie chickens at stores in Victorville in 2024 and San Marcos in 2025 believing they were preservative free due to the prominent signs saying so, according to the complaint. Both shoppers say they prefer to buy foods that are preservative free when possible.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit states that without accurate advertising customers are unable to make informed decisions on whether to purchase the chicken and compare pricing to Costco competitor\u2019s products. <\/p>\n

In photos included in the complaint, Costco signs promote the chicken as being USDA Grade A and containing no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors. <\/p>\n

With a price tag under $5, Costco\u2019s well-loved rotisserie chicken is cheaper than similar products at other grocery stores. Retail analysts have described it as a \u201closs leader,\u201d meaning that it is sold at little to no profit in order to entice customers to shop at the store and spend money on other items.<\/p>\n

The case comes as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.\u2019s \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement brings greater national scrutiny to ultra-processed foods<\/a> contributing to higher demand for goods that are marketed as being sans preservatives.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that Costco violated consumer laws in California, where the chickens were purchased, and in Washington, where Costco is headquartered. Plaintiffs are seeking to bring a class action lawsuit on behalf of people who purchased the rotisserie chicken in California and across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Costco\u2019s famed $4.99 rotisserie chicken is under fire in a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that the big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[77419,77418,729,2363,9182,30471,413,48,52,51,47,50,49,9355,1437,77416,3651,77415,11466,77417,826],"class_list":["post-158895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-california-shopper","tag-carrageenan","tag-complaint","tag-costco","tag-customer","tag-flavor","tag-food","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-order","tag-plaintiff","tag-preservative","tag-product","tag-rotisserie-chicken","tag-sign","tag-sodium-phosphate","tag-store"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}