Reddit Says You Should Think Twice Before Buying Potatoes From Costco

You say potato; we say "potahto," but regardless of how you pronounce the root vegetable's name, if you're planning on buying a bag of them from Costco, people may advise you to call the whole thing off. Or, at least, that's what a number of Costco members on Reddit suggested in a thread last year in which user u/Aether_Erebus asked which items weren't worth buying from the big box retailer.

Their inquiry elicited several responses including one from u/Rodya555, who warned against spending on the chain's 10-pound bags of spuds. "Costco potatoes, always has at least one rotten in there," they said in a comment that received 227 upvotes from their fellow shoppers. "Last time I didn't check and within 5 days my kitchen stank and there was a puddle outside the potato bag. Looked inside and there were maggots...." they added.

The Redditor's harrowing experience does not appear to have been a lone occurrence, either. In one comment further down on the thread, Reddit user u/poisonousjam shared how they had recently found their newly purchased Costco potatoes rotted so badly that they began emitting an odor that the Redditor likened to a dead rodent. On a separate thread, a third user recalled how their bulk buy became a Thanksgiving disaster upon discovering that their three-day-old potatoes had turned to mush right as they were getting ready to prep them for the holiday meal. "That nasty water that came out of them still haunts my kitchen," the Redditor claimed.

Raw potatoes can last up to several months when stored properly in a ventilated container that is kept in a cool, dark place, so why are Costco's potatoes starting to turn within a matter of days? We don't know the explanation for the purported spud conundrum, though shoppers have a few ideas.

A number of people have alleged that supply chain issues brought on by COVID have been the source of the rapid rotting, with one Reddit user offering the theory that potatoes were sitting longer at the distribution centers, so once they actually get into the hands and homes of consumers, their shelf life isn't nearly as long. On the other hand, another Redditor alleged last year that a russet potato shortage caused the grocer to start sourcing their spuds from different suppliers, thus leading to their drop in quality. A third shopper also suggested that the spuds could have been frozen at some point

One thing is for sure: multiple Costco shoppers on Reddit would probably say you should think twice before buying your potatoes from the big box chain, and some have even encouraged tater fans to consider purchasing in smaller quantities regardless of where you shop. However, if you still want to take your chances with Costco's bulk-sized bags, keep in mind that you can prep dishes like homemade french fries or mashed potatoes and freeze them for later use.