OP here, thanks for the responses. I don't have a celiac in the family so I'm not super upset. Just curious where it could be coming home. Cross contamination makes sense. I usually make all my own food but we are having a very sad and stressful week and picked up a chicken as a way to make things a little easier.

Not so hard to roast a chicken. If you want to do whole, spatchcock it and it will cook in 30 minutes. Even faster is to cook individual parts. Sear them in a cast iron pan on very high heat then finish in the oven at 400 degrees for another 20 minutes. Throw some potatoes and carrots in with the chicken and you have a whole meal in your cast iron pan. While it cooks, set the table and pour the drinks.

Stopping at the grocery probably takes almost as much total time and you don't get to share the cooking experience with your kids when you buy pre-made.

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Anonymous wrote:Usually it's because something is produced in the same facility where wheat is used for something else. Is it that hard to get a fresh chicken and roast it yourself if you are concerned about contaminants?

Roasting a chicken isn't that hard, but it takes time (and planning). Most people don't have a rotisserie at home, so making a rotisserie chicken is not easy. And buying a rotisserie chicken for dinner is very easy and quick.

What planning? For a small chicken you season it and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour. The oven does all the work. You can do this on a Sunday afternoon and eat it all week.

Right. 45 minutes, as opposed to a trip to the store on your way home from work. Buying a rotisserie chicken is faster and takes less planning than roasting it yourself.

Okay, then. But don't be surprised that the supermarket doesn't guarantee that it's safe for whatever food intolerances you have. I only eat GF and plan my meals pretty carefully--impulse trips to the grocery store are not part of my routine unless I know that whatever I'm picking up is 100 percent safe.

Bully for you. That's awesome. Personally meal planning and cooking is not my strong suit, but I still need to feed my celiac kid. So I'm gety grateful to stores that make that easier for me. And admit I've had a similar WTF reaction when reading labels and a food containins gluten that really doesn't need to.

Would you rather they not label a potential cross-contamination at all? If you have a celiac child, you should probably brush up on your meal planning and cooking skills because that is the best way to ensure safe food for your kid.

Cook your own

OP, have you asked Whole Foods why the label says that? I assume that they roast them there, in their kitchen-area. Is it because of possible cross-contamination, or because of seasoning, or some other reason?

Depending upon the severity of your gluten sensitivity (if celiac, I understand that it's very severe, but maybe less so with other gluten sensitivities?), it may still be okay.