Are Costco Samples Safe To Eat? Here's What You Need To Know About Hygiene Practices

An excursion to Costco would be incomplete without nibbling on a few tasty tidbits of food samples offered on ubiquitous red trays. Since you can have more than one sample, some shoppers make a lunch out of Costco's free smorgasbord, which can range from meatballs to cheese nibs to slivers of deli and lunch meat. With so many people hovering around the product demonstrator's table, you may wonder about Costco's hygiene practices and whether the food samples are safe to eat. Fear not, because Costco takes food safety very seriously. All Costco employees — even those who don't work in food areas — are required to take food-safety training. Managers must receive additional education and certification, and this in-house training is approved by the National Environmental Health Association and the American National Standards Institute. 

The product demonstrators, however, are not Costco employees but are contracted by Club Demonstration Services (CDS), Costco's preferred product-marketing provider. CDS also has very strict regulations for hygiene practices for all its employees, which include the frequent changing of non-latex gloves, visible white hairnets for hair and facial hair, and no jewelry other than a plain wedding ring. CDS also emphasizes that product demonstrators must never directly hand samples to Costco members but should instead serve them on trays. Since demonstrators are often cooking or reheating Costco's Kirkland Signature products, they are required to adhere to the USDA's guidelines for keeping food out of the "danger zone," thus ensuring that all food samples are safe to eat.

All CDS product demonstrators must also pass Costco's food certification test, and although they are diligent in maintaining hygiene, sometimes they have to deal with members who are less concerned about food safety. As one CDS demonstrator wrote on Reddit, he has to contend with greedy members grabbing the tray or reaching behind to snatch samples he hasn't served yet. To avoid any possible cross-contamination, the demonstrator must then trash anything touched by a member and re-sanitize the food-serving area. 

Costco makes money on giving out free food samples, but a recent policy change puts limits on the samples and underscores the company's commitment to food safety. At the risk of angering members with families who gobble down samples as a full meal, children will no longer be allowed to grab the food bites without their parents in tow. Although Costco doesn't seem to have made a public statement about this new rule, CDS product demonstrators now tell kids to bring their mom or dad over to grant them permission to sample the nibble. The policy applies to all minors under 18, who, if they look underage, may be asked for identification by the demonstrator. Although it may seem like a harsh stance to take, Costco has apparently had several food-related medical emergencies, and the new policy protects children from having a possibly life-threatening allergic reaction to a food sample.