Amid the recent COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, Costco stores have recently been flooded with people stocking up on supplies like sanitizing wipes, water and other household essentials. Costco locations across the U.S. have been “beyond busy” according to a statement from CFO Richard Galanti, resulting in an a same-store sales increase of 8.9%, CNBC reports.
But a staple of Costco visits — the free food samples — now has patrons wondering about its potential role in the spread of the coronavirus.
While Business Insider reports there’s currently no evidence that people are infected with coronavirus through food, the person-to person-contact involved with sampling food in a public place still presents a concern.
And it appears Costco agrees, as select stores are now temporarily discontinuing the practice of offering food samples, Yahoo! News reports.
The news was first broken by the popular Instagram account @CostcoDeals, which announced today that they had received reports from CDS, the vendor which handles Costco’s sampling stations, that many U.S. Costco locations were suspending samples. @CostcoDeals shared that the CDS employees who previously handled food samples are being offered other positions at Costco warehouses while the samples are on hold.
CDS confirmed to Business Insider that they have already stopped handing out samples at the one Costco location in China, as well as many locations in the U.S. However, CDS is still actively handing out samples in France, Spain, and the U.K., Business Insider confirms.