Whole Foods once earned the nickname “whole paycheck,” reflecting its image as a supermarket where customers accepted higher prices in exchange for products they believed were better.
Now, the retailer’s relatively expensive 365 private-label chicken is drawing uncomfortable scrutiny over where it is processed and the food-safety records of those facilities.
According to animal advocacy organization Farm Forward, a large share of Whole Foods’ 365 chicken is processed by Perdue, one of the country’s biggest poultry companies. Perdue products are also sold through major retailers such as Kroger, Target and Aldi.
Farm Forward reviewed 247 packages of 365 chicken purchased from 30 Whole Foods locations. The group reported that 92 percent of the packages had been processed at Perdue facilities.
The report raised an additional concern: 98 percent of the sampled products came from plants where Salmonella strains associated with serious human illness had previously been detected.
The price difference is also significant. Farm Forward reported that 365 chicken cost as much as 45.7 percent more than similar products at other retailers, while the average premium was 19.6 percent.
In one example cited by the organization, Whole Foods charged $6.49 per pound for 365 chicken, compared with $3.82 per pound for comparable Perdue Harvestland chicken at Walmart—roughly a 70 percent difference.
Some 365 chicken products sell for nearly $10 per pound, making the brand’s food-safety questions particularly notable for shoppers paying a premium.
Farm Forward reported that a substantial portion of Whole Foods’ 365 private-label chicken is processed by Perdue, whose poultry is also sold at major retailers such as Target and Aldi
Farm Forward based its analysis on information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The organization emphasized that its findings do not mean every package of 365 chicken contains Salmonella, nor do they establish that eating the products will make consumers ill. However, the data point to potential concerns involving several facilities in Whole Foods’ supply chain.
Farm Forward said more than one-quarter of the 365 chicken products it examined came from three slaughterhouses that had failed the USDA’s contamination standard during the preceding year.
Together, those three facilities supplied nearly 27 percent of the sampled 365 chicken. Farm Forward said the issue appeared particularly concentrated in Whole Foods’ California and Central West sales regions.
The advocacy group also reported that more concerning Salmonella strains were prevalent across all six plants it identified as suppliers of 365 chicken.
Farm Forward said Salmonella Infantis, Enteritidis and Typhimurium—strains it identifies as being strongly associated with severe illness, hospitalization and death—represented between 60 percent and 100 percent of positive samples at those facilities.
Antibiotic resistance was another issue highlighted in the report. At each of the six plants, at least 64.8 percent of Salmonella-positive samples were resistant to one or more antibiotics. At every facility, at least 25 percent of the samples showed resistance to multiple antibiotics, according to Farm Forward.
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That finding is significant because antibiotics may be needed to treat severe Salmonella infections. Resistance can make those illnesses more difficult to manage by limiting the medicines doctors can rely on.
Farm Forward said 365 chicken cost as much as 45.7 percent more than comparable products sold by other retailers, with an average premium of 19.6 percent
Farm Forward’s review also found that more than 92 percent of the raw 365 chicken included in its sample had been processed at Perdue plants.
The report adds to a broader conversation about Whole Foods chicken, as shoppers on social media have also posted allegations questioning the quality of the products they purchased.
In a Reddit thread, one Connecticut shopper posted pictures of chicken bought at Whole Foods in West Hartford and Avon, claiming the meat looked freezer-burned or partly cooked and smelled more like cooked food than raw chicken.
Other commenters described 365 chicken as stringy, rubbery or unpleasantly textured, while some said they had switched to Bell & Evans instead.
One commenter claimed the 365 chicken was Perdue, and they said they had stopped buying it because of the texture, while another balked at paying around $10 a pound for chicken.
Others were more forgiving, arguing that Whole Foods can be competitive when shoppers compare similar products or make use of Prime discounts.
One Reddit user suggested the strange texture could be ‘woody breast,’ a condition associated with chicken muscle quality that can make meat unusually tough.
Whole Foods says its 365 chicken meets animal-welfare and feed standards, with product information stating that the birds are traceable to a farm or ranch and contain no added growth hormones or antibiotics.
Farm Forward found that the more dangerous strains of Salmonella dominated at all six plants it identified as supplying 365 chicken
Perdue says it has pathogen-control measures in place and is continuing efforts to improve poultry safety.
Our News Outlet has contacted Whole Foods for comment and is awaiting a response.
Concluding its report, Farm Forward says: ‘Whole Foods shoppers are not just failing to get what they’re paying for; in many cases, they’re paying more for the same types of products, from the same plants, with the same production claim, and typically the same breeds, sourced from some of the most contaminated plants in the country.’
For shoppers standing in front of the chilled meat case, the findings raise a simple question: is that extra money buying a better product – or simply a more expensive one?
