Costco Recalled 80,000 Pounds of Butter for Containing…Milk (Yes, Really)

It’s no secret that the U.S. has had a lot of food recalls this year. McDonald’s, Boar’s Head Provisions Co., and International Delight have all been the subject of major public food safety troubles. Mcdonald’s had E.coli issues with their yellow onions this fall, Boar’s Head began an ongoing recall in July for a listeria outbreak in their liverwurst product, and International Delight got into hot water for mislabeling a sugar-filled product as sugar-free in October. Even eggs from multiple farms were a source of a salmonella outbreak. Yikes.

Though these recalls—with numbers like BrucePac’s 11 million pounds of deli meat, also for listeria—are some of the scarier we’ve seen in the last few years, occasionally a recall comes through that feels almost… silly.

Enter: beloved behemoth Costco. Costco boasts around 4,000 products in inventory at each of their locations at any given time. As the holiday season ramps up, professionals and home cooks alike flock to the wholesale mecca for their favorite butter. It contains an impressive 82 percent butter fat content (The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines butter as having at least 80 percent fat).

However, bakers will have to put their holiday cookies on pause, because Costco just announced a recall for two of their signature butters: Kirkland Signature Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter (4-stick pack, 16 oz.) and Kirkland Signature Salted Sweet Cream (4-stick pack, 16 oz.) with “Best By” dates ranging from Feb. 22, to March 29, 2025.

Coming in at a whopping 80,000 pounds, Costco’s butter recall—originating in Texas at Continental Dairy Facilities Southwest LLC—is classified by the FDA as an “undeclared allergen.” The allergen in question? Milk. 

Milk is cited by the Food and Drug Administration as being one of the most common reasons for recalling due to allergens, and is one of the eight major food allergens identified by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA), which also includes eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. In 2021, the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act added sesame as the ninth allergen required to be labeled and flagged by food products.

The FDA statement announced the nutrition label on the “[b]utter lists cream, but may be missing the Contains Milk statement,” as the official reason for the recall.

In this case, consumers are left baffled, as butter is made from milk or cream using a churning process, and is usually one of only two to three ingredients on a butter label (the other being salt, and sometimes milk solids listed additionally). The recall was picked up by subreddit r/nottheonion, a subreddit dedicated to news that seems absurd but is true, with one user joking, “Warning, peanut butter may contain peanuts.”

Though it seems absurd, it’s important to note that this is a voluntary recall, which means it’s not mandatory to return or throw away the butter, and the FDA did not cite specific instructions for what to do if you did purchase this butter. If you have butter from Costco before Oct. 11, and it matches the lot number on either one of the recall alerts, sites like FoodSafety.gov recommend returning or tossing the product if you’re worried about the allergen.

Costco Butter recalled

Kirkland Signature Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter:

• Lot No. 2424091; “Best By” Feb. 22, 2025
• Lot No. 2424111; “Best By” Feb. 23, 2025
• Lot No. 2426891; “Best By” March 22, 2025
• Lot No. 2426991; “Best By” March 23, 2025

Kirkland Signature Salted Sweet Cream Butter: 

• Lot #2424191; “Best By” Feb. 23, 2025
• Lot #2427591; “Best By” March 29, 2025