Costco has been selling emergency food kits for more than a decade | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·2 min read
4

The claim: Costco’s emergency food kits are new in 2024

A Feb. 1 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a video of a person describing various bulk food products being sold at Costco.

“What does Costco know?” reads the start of the post. “New doomsday kits appear at warehouse chain.”

Other versions of the claim spread on TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The products shown in the video are not new. Costco has sold emergency food kits for more than a decade.

Costco sold emergency food kits as early as 2008

The Facebook video shows several products, including a ReadyWise 132-serving food kit and a Mountain House 28-serving food kit. ReadyWise’s TikTok account shows it’s been selling such items at Costco since at least 2021, and reviews for the Mountain House product show it's also been at the store for several years.

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Costco will open its newest location in Florida off the International Golf Parkway, north of St. Augustine, at 8 a.m Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. The 152,000-square-foot warehouse will be the company's first location in St. Johns County, joining locations in Orange Park and Jacksonville.
Costco will open its newest location in Florida off the International Golf Parkway, north of St. Augustine, at 8 a.m Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. The 152,000-square-foot warehouse will be the company's first location in St. Johns County, joining locations in Orange Park and Jacksonville.

Costco has been selling other emergency food kits for over a decade. An emergency kit that included food and other supplies was for sale at the store as early as 2008, according to Utah Preppers, a blog for "people of a preparedness mindset."

An archived version of Costco’s website also shows it’s been selling emergency food kits since at least 2012. The warehouse chain introduced longer-term emergency food kits in 2017 priced at $1,000, $4,000 and $6,000.

USA TODAY reached out to Costco and the brands mentioned in the video for comment but did not immediately receive a response. A user who shared the claim did not provide evidence the emergency food kits were new to Costco in response to a USA TODAY inquiry.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Costco just started selling 'doomsday' kits | Fact check