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Costco Shoppers Say This Ground Meat Product Has Several Issues

This product is the latest Costco item to face customer backlash.
FACT CHECKED BY Chris Shott

As a widely available grocery store staple, ground turkey may seem like the type of product that's hard to get wrong. But a certain brand of the ground meat sold by Costco has been generating hundreds of quality complaints from customers who are fed up with the "awful" item.

The ground turkey brand at the center of all this raging disdain is Butterball. Costco currently sells four 1.7-pound packs of Butterball's ground turkey for $24.99 online, though prices may be lower at your local warehouse.

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Butterball is a common supplier of whole grocery store turkeys around Thanksgiving each year, but many customers say it hasn't quite cracked the code on ground turkey.

In a Reddit diatribe that has attracted nearly 300 comments this week, one especially disgruntled Costco member said they were completely giving up on Butterball's ground "turkey mush."

I'm done with buying Ground Turkey at Costco
by u/CrasherMike in Costco

"You know what I am talking about. It's meat paste in a pouch. It sticks to your fingers when you try to handle it and causes a mess. I'll pay the extra to buy at the grocery store to get those nice ribbons that are a signature of ground meat," the customer added.

These qualms about the look and feel of the meat were a common theme among other Redditors who also aired their grievances with the Butterball product.

"That mush is the reason I cannot stomach ground turkey. There also is a weird sweet smell that emits when you cook it. I hate that stuff," a customer commented.

"We bought it once and I will not make that mistake again. It was so pasty that the only use for it was dog food," another said.

The disappointing texture is only one part of the story. Other customers reported finding some unexpected and extremely off-putting accessories in their Butterball packs.

According to one Costco member: "I stopped buying that Butterball ground turkey because every time I would find a bunch of little bone pieces in it. My kids were constantly spitting them out. It was disgusting,"

Another reported finding feathers in the ground meat the first and only time they ever bought it. "Worst Costco purchase ever," the customer added.

This recent backlash against Butterball's ground turkey makes it the latest scorned Costco product. Earlier this month, customers also complained about the quality of the warehouse club's produce and reported major mold issues with Costco's bagels.

Zoe Strozewski
Zoe Strozewski is a News Writer for Eat This, Not That! A Chicago native who now lives in New Jersey, she graduated from Kean University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Read more about Zoe
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