Montana Reacts to Costco’s $4.99 Chicken Lawsuit

If you live in Montana, there’s a good chance your last Costco trip ended the same way. You go in for paper towels, somehow spend $200, and walk out clutching that $4.99 rotisserie chicken like you just hit the lottery.

It’s practically a way of life at this point.

So What’s Up With the Lawsuit?

So, of course, people started talking recently when a class action lawsuit surfaced alleging Costco’s iconic rotisserie chicken could be tied to Salmonella issues. And yeah, that’s enough to make you pause mid-bite for about half a second.

The lawsuit claims Costco was aware of contamination risks tied to its chicken supply, even pointing to issues at one of its production facilities. It also alleges that testing results and how often Salmonella showed up during inspections weren’t exactly what they seemed. On paper, it sounds serious.

Let’s Slow Down a Second

This is a lawsuit. Not a recall. Not a reported outbreak tied directly to your last Costco dinner. No one is pulling chickens off shelves right now. No emergency alerts. Just lawyers doing lawyer things and making claims that still have to be proven.

That $4.99 Chicken And My Relationship With It

And let’s be honest for a second. That rotisserie chicken has been holding it down for years. Road trips, quick dinners, post-hunting meals, and feeding yourself without thinking too hard. It’s one of the few things left that still feels like a deal. Five bucks for a fully cooked chicken in 2026 feels almost suspicious in a good way.

What This Actually Means

Also worth remembering, Salmonella is something that shows up across a lot of raw poultry in general. That’s why you cook it properly and don’t treat your kitchen like a science experiment. Costco isn’t exactly the only place dealing with that reality.

So yeah, the lawsuit is out there. It’ll work its way through the system, and maybe something comes from it, maybe it doesn’t. But for now, this feels a lot more like a headline-grabbing situation than a full-blown “throw out your chicken” moment.

I’m still grabbing one on my next trip.