On September 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a warning to the gluten-free community in regards to the “misbranding” of Kirkland Signature Chicken Tortilla Soup.
The soup is labeled “gluten-free,” but the USDA says this is a “false negative” claim given that the product contains gluten.
FSIS says it discovered the issue during laboratory testing, where it found gluten in the chicken tortilla soup despite the package being labeled as gluten-free.
I emailed the USDA to better understand where the gluten came from, as I don’t see a recognizable gluten ingredient among the listed ingredients.
Was gluten added to the product by mistake, or does one of the ingredients contain detectable levels of gluten above 20 parts per million, the threshold of gluten a product can contain in order to be labeled “gluten-free.”
I believe it’s important to understand how this happened so we can know what the manufacturer is doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
I will update this article when more information becomes available.
Warning Vs. Recall
The soups are no longer available for purchase in stores, so the USDA did not issue a recall; instead, the agency issued a “public health warning” to warn consumers who might have cartons of this soup in their fridges or freezers.
The soups were produced on July 26, 2023, and sold at retail locations in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
They have a use-by date of November 23, 2023. The affected products are part of lot code 1394066, which is printed on the side of the cup just below the lip.
These products should not be used by anyone who cannot eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, including people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
The USDA advises that consumers throw the packages away or return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. (I assume the place of purchase would be Costco, but the USDA does not specify this detail.)
There are no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.
All images were provided by the USDA.
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