Costco faces class action over alleged heavy metals in Orgain protein supplements

Costco is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging it sold Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder contaminated with toxic heavy metals without warning consumers.

The lawsuit was filed on 7 July in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington by law firm Hagens Berman.

It claims Costco marketed the products as high-quality and nutritious despite allegedly knowing, or having reason to know, they contained unsafe levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic.

According to Hagens Berman, testing by The Clean Label Project, Consumer Reports and independent laboratories detected heavy metals in the products.

“Many consumers who buy and use protein powder do so routinely as part of a continuing focus on their fitness and health,” said Steve Berman, managing partner and co-founder of Hagens Berman.

“These same health-conscious consumers have unknowingly ingested alarming levels of toxic heavy metals – lead, cadmium and arsenic – again and again, trusting that Costco’s quality assurance would not allow something like this to happen.”

The lawsuit further alleges Costco continued selling the products without disclosing the alleged contamination while promoting them as containing “quality ingredients, higher standards” and “clean nutrition”.

The claims have not been proven in court, and Costco has not publicly responded to the allegations outlined in the filing.