'Awful Chemical Taste And Smell': Costco's Worst-Rated Kirkland Brand Food

Have you ever had a snack that smelled, as one reviewer described it, like "a nail salon"? Customers claim a unique, acrylic, and chemical scent wafts out of the bag when they dive into one of Costco's worst-rated Kirkland Signature products. At first glance, it looks like a great deal — 80 bite-sized muffins for about $10 — but reviews tell a different story for Kirkland Signature Chocolate Chip Mini Muffin Bites. Shoppers who took a risk on these prepackaged muffins say they wouldn't recommend them to anyone, and they won't buy them again.

These bite-sized muffins are sold in packages of four, with 20 in a box. Each package contains 190 calories; plus the muffins are made in a peanut-free bakery, with no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, or flavors. Some shoppers have left glowing reviews about them in the past, but like other Costco grocery items that have left customers divided, feedback has taken a dark turn for Kirkland Signature Mini Muffin Bites. Online, Costco Redditors say the mini muffin packages are difficult to open. Once you get inside, the mini muffins have a chemical smell that some customers have described as tasting like crude oil.

The biggest complaint customers have with Costco's Kirkland Signature Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins is the smell. But, even if you can get past the chemical scent, there are plenty of other problems. Shoppers report these mini muffins are too dense, too moist, and the flavor tastes artificial. Others pointed to the extensive ingredient list, the inclusion of additives like preservatives, and compared them to rubber, claiming they were way too chewy. One YouTube reviewer said they felt "almost like Play-Doh," and had an industrial snack cake flavor. But the texture and taste weren't the worst complaints logged about Costco's Kirkland Signature Mini Muffins.

Customers regularly get vocal about Costco food court items that are wildly unhealthy, and certainly speak up when recipes change on their favorite products. But the objections about Kirkland Signature Mini Muffins are different. They aren't pointing out small dissatisfactions; customers have even found moldy muffins when they open the pouches. The fix? Shoppers are tossing these mini muffins in the trash or taking them back to exchange for something better, like one of the Kirkland Signature Foods Costco customers buy on repeat.