COSTCO HOTDOGS

My post about COSTCO's new hotdogs generated some interesting discussion. Thank you to those who commented and raised the issues with our readers, and COSTCO itself.

Most recently, Brad Schmidt  left this comment:

Just spoke with Michael at the Costco HQ and he confirmed a letter dated May 2009 from ConAgra (their supplier for the dogs in the Phx-Oak Street location) that while ConAgra cannot "certify" the products are gluten free, the letter does "affirm" that there are no gluten based products in the dogs, and that they do have manufacturing practices that segregate gluten vs. gluten free products. Sounded like a "cya" letter but was close enough for me to give the OK for my son to eat the hotdogs. Hope this helps.

Previously,
tacomamama checked with the source:

No wheat in Costco hot dogs, according to the Costco corporate office. I spoke with a rep who read off the ingredients list (which is pretty clean generally and free of gluten containing ingredients) and also said she is a member of a celiac forum, she seemed to really know her stuff.Hope that helps. Sorry the food court peeps lead you astray.

Another opinion came from an active GIG person:

The hot dog wouldn't be gluten-free even if it was the kosher ones - they use the same tongs to pick up the bun and then pick up the wiener. The water is FULL of gluten that the weiners are floating in. In the past I have tried to get them to use separate tongs. The answer was - don't eat them! If this helps any....

[I hadn't thought about that!]

And someone else dealt with it from a very different point of view:

No loss. The meat in hot dogs is essentially the dregs of the animal after all the "good" meat has been carved off. They recover it via a process of mechanical separation from the bones. In addition to sulfites, the high fat content, and other fillers. You are better off not eating them.

I've had the new COSTCO hotdogs at home, and had no problems. I was concerned about the tongs picking up hotdogs and putting them in the buns, once I watched the folks work when it was really busy.

Bottom line: Chocolate usually wins and I go for the chocolate swirl frozen yogurt.

So -- thank you very much for following up with COSTCO, and for sharing the info with this Blog. I'm glad the 'dogs are ok, that we have a choice, and diligence to watch for cross-contact is the only complication. Enjoy!