Federal officials announced the recall Saturday morning of nearly 9,000 rotisserie chickens and related products such as soup, chicken salad and leg quarters purchased at Costco's South San Francisco store on El Camino Real between Sept. 11 and Sept. 23.
The Agricultural Department says health officials traced the salmonella outbreak that's sickened more than 300 people nationwide to the South San Francisco store and its ready-to-eat chicken cooked on the premises.
Investigators have linked three Foster Farms processing plants in Central California to the outbreak, which has a high hospitalization rate.
Costco pointed out Saturday that the outbreak was in raw chicken, not cooked.
"No, this is a totally separate thing," Costco Vice President Craig Wilson said. "This has to do with the rotisserie chicken. Now, you know, were the chickens that we were to cook from Foster Farms? They were."
The raw chicken in the nationwide salmonella outbreak was sold under a variety of brand names, including Ralph's, Safeway Farms, and Open Nature.
Information resources:
Consumers with questions regarding the recall should contact Costco at (800) 774-2678.
CDC: CA wholesale store recalls rotisserie chicken products
FoodSafety.gov: Salmonella information
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
