Costco pushed back last week against claims of salmonella risk in its beloved $5 rotisserie chicken, following a proposed class-action lawsuit.

Attorneys at Seattle law firm Perkins Coie representing the Issaquah-based chain of membership warehouses said in a Friday motion that plaintiff Lisa Taylor, who filed a complaint in February, doesn’t have a case for myriad reasons.

Taylor, a Missouri resident, claims that salmonella contamination at Costco’s poultry facility, Lincoln Premium Poultry in Nebraska, has led to a “food safety crisis,” per her lawsuit.

“Every trip to Costco’s meat department comes with an unacceptably

high risk of picking up bacteria-laden poultry that could send the entire family to the hospital,” her lawyers from various firms wrote in the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Costco’s attorneys, however, are pressing for the suit’s dismissal, namely because “Costco rotisserie chicken is fully cooked, which kills salmonella bacteria,” said the recent motion.

Salmonella is a bacterium that infects animals, spreading to humans largely through the consumption of raw meat, eggs and vegetables tainted with manure. It causes gastrointestinal issues.

Cooking chicken to the proper temperature can prevent illness.

Costco’s lawyers said the plaintiff did not allege that the rotisserie chicken is improperly cooked, and she didn’t suffer any related injuries.

They added that the plaintiff didn’t purchase the company’s raw chicken products, and the meat is labeled with safety, cooking and handling instructions to inform consumers about any risks.

Taylor’s suit relies in part on last year’s analysis by Farm Forward, a nonprofit advocacy and consulting group, that “the USDA sets standards for salmonella contamination based on a three-category system for poultry plants. Category 3 plants fail the standard. Costco’s LPP plant has received a Category 3 rating 92% of the time since it opened in 2019.”

While the plaintiff calls the Grade A labeling of Costco’s poultry products by the U.S. Agriculture Department misleading, the company argues that the grade is applied toward the chicken’s physical condition, not its risk of salmonella.

Poultry that earns A Quality is free of major deformities, feathers, broken bones and extensive discoloration, along with being well-fleshed, according to the Agriculture Department.

Costco’s lawyers argued that Taylor failed to assert how Costco infringed upon Washington’s Consumer Protection Act.

They didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taylor is seeking relief, including “a permanent injunction prohibiting Costco from engaging in the unlawful acts” and damages.

Her attorneys declined to comment.

In January, Costco was slapped with another lawsuit tied to its rotisserie chicken: a claim that the birds contain preservatives, despite company advertising that the meat is free of additives. The company must respond to the complaint by May 11.

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