If you’ve been through a Costco lately and grabbed one of those big Kirkland Caesar salads or the chicken wrap that comes with a side salad, you might want to stop halfway to the fridge and read this.
On November 7, Costco and their supplier Ventura Foods put out a voluntary recall on two of the warehouse’s most popular ready-to-eat items: the plain Kirkland Signature Caesar Salad (item number 19927) and the Chicken Sandwich with Caesar Salad combo (item number 11444). Reason? There’s a chance some of the creamy Caesar dressing packets have pieces of plastic in them.
These aren’t small side salads either. Most guys know the drill, you spot that clear plastic clamshell by the meat counter, loaded with cold, crunchy chopped romaine, a couple lemon wedges, a generous pile of shredded Parmesan, those garlic-cheese croutons that actually taste like something, and two little pouches of dressing on the side. Throw it in the work fridge and you’ve got lunch and probably dinner taken care of. The chicken version just adds a solid grilled chicken sandwich to the package, making it the kind of no-brainer grab-and-go that keeps a lot of members coming back.
The problem is limited to products with “Sell By” dates running from October 17, 2025 through November 9, 2025. If the date stamped on your container falls inside that window, Costco wants you to quit eating it right now. Doesn’t matter if you already poured the dressing or polished off half the bowl, better safe than sorry when plastic is involved.
The official word from the company is straightforward: “Please stop eating the product and return the item to your local Costco for a full refund.” No receipt needed, no questions asked, just bring whatever is left (or even the empty container) back to the returns desk and they’ll make it right. That’s one of the reasons a lot of us keep the membership paid up year after year.
Ventura Foods, the company that actually makes the dressing, hasn’t said exactly how the plastic got in there or how many containers might be affected. They’re calling it “possible presence of plastic foreign material” and treating it as a precaution rather than a confirmed disaster. Still, even one shard of hard plastic in a bite of romaine is one too many.
For anyone who’s ever crunched into something that definitely wasn’t a crouton, you know the feeling, trip to the dentist, maybe worse. Costco’s moving fast to pull every affected salad off the shelves and get the word out so nobody takes that chance.
If you’ve got one of these sitting at home or in the break-room fridge at work, take a quick look at the sell-by date tonight. Falls between mid-October and early November 2025? Toss the rest or haul it back to the warehouse. The guys at the returns counter have seen it all; they’ll just scan it, hand you cash or credit, and you can roll on with the rest of your weekend.
Costco’s track record on recalls is pretty solid. They don’t mess around when something might hurt members, and they make the return process about as painless as it gets. Chances are the shelves will be restocked with fresh batches before long, and those big Caesar salads will be waiting again, cold, crunchy, and (this time) plastic-free.
In the meantime, maybe fire up the grill or hit the deli counter for something else. Better to play it safe than spend an evening wondering if that weird crunch was supposed to be there.
