What jumps out at you when you first arrive at Costco? There’s the crowds, the TVs at the entrance, and the pallets of mostly processed junk food near the door. There’s all the clothes and the books, the luggage and appliances. It’d be very easy to get the impression that there’s no real food to be found here. But if you keep walking to the back of the store you begin to find it! Real actual ingredients, some of them from good sources! I was thrilled to find many good deals on good ingredients when I joined.

But, not everything that seems wholesome at Costco is wholesome.

If you shop at Whole Foods, or any other natural food store for that matter you’ll begin to recognize many products at Costco that normally can be found only at more upscale and expensive stores. No wonder this store is so popular with the diet conscious crowd! The brands may give you that warm glow that can only come from shopping where it’s easy to believe the buyers care about quality. If you feel that warmth, watch out! You’ll be susceptible to … wait for it … Organic Label Syndrome!

What is Organic Label Syndrome?

Okay, it’s a joke I just made up, and not a very funny one at that ;-)! But I am pointing to something that we all need to maintain some awareness of when shopping wherever there are lots of organic items. Organic labels are absolutely no assurance of wholesomeness or quality when it comes to packaged processed foods! At Costco I found many foods that I would put on the “Absolutely Avoid” list that have organic labels. But strangely I find the presence of even these bad foods reassuring, just because I recognize the brands as producers of organic foods … just makes me feel at home. I’d bet I’m not the only one too. I must have a touch of Organic Label Syndrome!

So What Are Some of These Foods?

This bouillon was the subject of one of Food Renegade’s decoding labels posts…

Everyone love’s Annies, but take a look at this label …

Just a small sample …

Of what I found … not to pick on Costco though, you could go into any natural or high end grocery store and find even more of this stuff. By way of reminder, don’t decide based on the huge print labels instead read the fine print ingredient label. It’ll tell you what you need to know.