What You Need To Know If Your Costco Chicken Is Yellow

Costco is an excellent place to get your grocery shopping done, especially if you like to buy items in bulk or if you enjoy chowing down on Costco's delicious food court pizza while you browse. But Costcos are huge places, so it's only a matter of time before you see something on the shelves that doesn't look quite right.

One section of Costco you might find irregular items in is the meat section. After all, raw meat can easily become contaminated and unsafe for multiple reasons. One out-of-the-ordinary sight you might occasionally come across in the Costco meat section, as did one Redditor, is yellow-looking chicken. But yellow flesh isn't a sign of chicken gone bad, even though that may be your first instinct.

According to the USDA, color variation for raw poultry is not only normal, but expected. Besides the light pink you're used to, the flesh of safe raw chicken can also be blueish-white to, yes, yellow.

The USDA explains that the flesh of raw poultry (when healthy anyway) is determined by a combination of factors, including the chicken's age, breed, diet, and exercise. Age is a primary factor in giving some raw chicken that bluish color, for example, caused by younger chickens tending to have less fat.

As for what makes raw chicken yellow, that can partly be caused by that chicken's diet containing plenty of marigolds. Marigold, a bright yellow or yellow-red flower, is commonly given to chickens for several reasons but mainly because it's good for their health. A chicken's diet also affects the color of the yolk. Marigold can cause the yolks to become a deeper, brighter orange, and that effect can also carry over into the chicken flesh.

When it comes to other irregular colors, there's no better example than the color of the most expensive chicken on the planet: Ayam Cemani. This chicken is jet-black from head to toe, and that includes the skin and flesh. You probably won't find one of these at a Costco, though, so yellow wins again.