Costco Canada has recalled a chicken product sold in its warehouses over the last month, and if you bought it, the whole question comes down to a lot number printed on the package.
The product is Rossdown Meal Starters Black Garlic Chicken Breast Chunks, Costco item number 2950321. Rossdown Farms & Natural Foods is recalling specific lots because of the potential presence of an undeclared soy allergen.
Before you go and empty the freezer, here is the thing most headlines are burying: this is a labelling problem, not a contamination one.
Who is actually at risk, and who isn't
The recall notice is directed at one group of people — those who are allergic or sensitive to soy.
The concern is not that anything harmful got into the chicken. It is that soy may be present in the product without appearing on the label. For someone with a soy allergy, that is genuinely serious: the notice warns that consuming a product you are allergic or sensitive to may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction.
For everyone else, an undeclared allergen recall does not present the same hazard. The recall exists because a person relying on that label to keep themselves safe could be badly harmed by the omission.
That distinction matters, because "Costco chicken recalled" reads to most people as contamination — bacteria, foreign objects, something in the food that shouldn't be there. This is a different category of problem, and knowing which kind you are dealing with tells you how worried to be.
You can still return the product for a refund regardless of whether anyone in your household has a soy allergy.
Exactly what to check
Two lot numbers are affected. Both appear on the packaging.
Lot Number 2461263 — production date 10 August 2026 Lot Number 2461272 — production date 19 August 2026
Both carry the UPC 6 28000 60094 7.
If your package shows a different lot number, it is not part of this recall.
One caution: at least one outlet has published these figures incorrectly, running the final digit of the UPC into the start of the lot number. If the numbers you are reading elsewhere do not match the ones above, check against Costco's own recall notice rather than a news summary.
The product was sold at Costco warehouses in Canada between August 2026 and September 2026. Costco published the recall notice on 4 September.
How to get your money back
Affected products can be returned to any Costco warehouse for a full refund.
Costco tracks purchases against membership numbers, which is why members who bought the item are typically contacted directly by letter or email. You do not generally need the original receipt to return a recalled item, because the purchase is already on your membership record.
If you have already thrown the packaging away but believe you bought the product, contact Costco member services — the purchase history on your account is the record that matters.
Why undeclared allergen recalls keep happening
This category accounts for a large share of food recalls in Canada and elsewhere, and the reasons are more mundane than most people assume.
The usual causes are a supplier changing an ingredient without the change flowing through to the label, a product being run on a production line shared with an allergen-containing item, the wrong packaging being applied to a product, or a reformulation where the recipe is updated faster than the printed packaging is.
None of these involve anything going wrong with the food itself. They involve the information about the food becoming inaccurate — which, for the people who depend on that information, amounts to the same danger.
Soy is one of the priority allergens identified by Canadian food safety authorities, alongside items such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, sesame, seafood and mustard. Products containing a priority allergen must declare it, which is why a missing declaration triggers a recall even when the product is otherwise perfectly safe.
If you have a soy allergy and already ate it
Most people with a soy sensitivity who consumed the product without any reaction do not need to do anything beyond returning any remaining packs.
If you experienced symptoms after eating it, or you are unsure, speak to a healthcare professional. Anyone experiencing a severe allergic reaction — difficulty breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or a sudden widespread rash — should seek emergency medical help immediately rather than waiting to see whether it passes.
It is also worth reporting the reaction, since consumer reports are part of how the scope of a recall gets established. Rossdown Farms and Costco can both take that information.
Is this recall in the United States?
The notice covers Costco warehouses in Canada. Rossdown Farms & Natural Foods is a British Columbia company, and the recall as published applies to Canadian stores.
Costco has issued a number of separate recalls affecting Canadian warehouses through 2026, involving different manufacturers and different problems — undeclared allergens in one case, potential glass fragments in others. Those are unrelated to this one and involve different products entirely.
The short version
If you bought Rossdown Meal Starters Black Garlic Chicken Breast Chunks at a Canadian Costco in August or early September, look at the lot number.
If it reads 2461263 or 2461272, take it back for a refund — and do not eat it if anyone in your household is allergic or sensitive to soy. If it reads anything else, your pack is not part of this recall.
