Costco shoppers have a lot of strong opinions when it comes to the company's food offerings. Over the past few months, customers have accused the retailer of half-filled seasoning bottles, and called out "awful" store-brand foods. One shopper even took to social media with claims that she found parasites in Kirkland salmon. Now Costco is doing what it can to get ahead of any potential complaints by warning certain members about a recall of Tillamook cheese slices.
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The company just alerted shoppers to the cheese slice recall on its Recall & Product Notices website. Costco sent a letter on June 1 to members whose records show that they (or one of their add-on members) had purchased one or more of the 32-ounce twin-packages of Tillamook Colby Jack and Tillamook Monterey Jack cheese slices that are now being recalled.
The letter explained that "through standard food safety and quality processes," Tillamook discovered some of these packages could be contaminated with a "very small quantity of gray and black plastic pieces" on the Monterey Jack Cheese side.
The company stressed that the plastic pieces may only be present in a "limited quantity" of Monterey Jack Cheese that is included in the 32-ounce Tillamook Monterey Jack and Tillamook Colby Jack cheese slices, and that the slices in question were "produced only for Costco locations in the Northwest region."
Costco did not specify any specific stores that might have sold the recalled Tillamook cheese. But according to the retailer's website, Costco's Northwest region is comprised of stores in six states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
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"In an abundance of caution and as part of our commitment to product quality and safety at the highest levels, we are voluntarily taking action to remove this product from the marketplace," Mike Bever, executive vice president and chief supply chain officer for Tillamook County Creamery Association, wrote in the letter.
But it's possible that some Costco members had already bought the affected cheese between May 9 and May 31, before it was removed from stores. The recalled 32-ounce twin-pack packages of Tillamook Monterey Jack and Tillamook Colby Jack contain 42 slices and have a "Best If Used By" date of Oct. 22, 2024.
"If you still have this item, please refrain from consuming it and return the package to your local Costco for a full refund," Bever said. "If you have already consumed the product without issue, you do not need to take any action, as the likely presence of the foreign plastic material is very minimal."
Beyond that, if you have any issues or concerns regarding this recall, the notice indicates that you can contact Tillamook by email or phone for more help.
Best Life reached out to Costco to see if the company has any more information about this recall, and we will update this story with its response.
