A class action lawsuit filed July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington accuses Costco Wholesale Corporation of selling a popular protein powder contaminated with dangerous levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic — while marketing the product as “good, clean nutrition.”
The lawsuit was filed by Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of seven plaintiffs from Washington, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. It claims Costco sold Orgain Organic Protein Powder — in Vanilla Bean and Creamy Chocolate Fudge flavors — without disclosing the presence of toxic heavy metals.
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What the lawsuit alleges
Plaintiffs allege that Costco controlled the product listings, packaging messaging and point-of-sale for Orgain protein powder, prominently touting phrases such as “the power of clean,” “quality ingredients, higher standards” and “relentless about quality” — while never warning customers about heavy metal contamination.
“No reasonable consumer purchasing protein powder products would expect the Contaminated Products to contain heavy metals,” the complaint states, “especially since the Contaminated Products are marketed as high quality, clean, and nutritious, and intended to be ingested.”
The suit further alleges that Costco neither required Orgain’s manufacturer to test for heavy metals nor disclosed the presence of such metals to consumers at any point of sale.
What testing revealed, according to complaint
According to the lawsuit, independent laboratory testing conducted by plaintiff Randall Hartwright of Texas and the plaintiffs’ legal team found detectable levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic across multiple product lots and flavors. According to the complaint, test results included:
- Orgain Organic Protein Powder, Vanilla Bean: Lead levels as high as 67 parts per billion (ppb), cadmium up to 24 ppb, arsenic up to 15 ppb
- Orgain Organic Protein Powder, Creamy Chocolate Fudge: Lead levels as high as 46 ppb, cadmium up to 70.3 ppb, arsenic up to 18 ppb
Those results were reportedly corroborated by Microbac Laboratories, an independent ISO/IEC 17025-accredited testing facility.
For context, the lead level of 3.37 micrograms per serving found in one Vanilla Bean sample exceeds California’s Proposition 65 maximum allowable dose level (MADL) of 0.5 micrograms per day by 674%, according to the complaint.
Prior reports
The lawsuit points to earlier public reporting as evidence Costco should have known about the problem. In January 2025, the Clean Label Project published a report testing 160 top-selling protein powders and found that 79% of organic protein powders exceeded California’s Proposition 65 limits for lead — with 41% testing more than two times over that limit.
In October 2025, Consumer Reports published a separate investigation finding that more than two-thirds of 23 protein products it tested exceeded its level of concern for lead. The report found that plant-based protein powders had lead levels nine times higher on average than dairy-based alternatives.
Consumer Reports specifically identified Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder in Vanilla Bean as a product it rated “Okay to eat occasionally,” with lead levels at 143% of its level of concern and a suggested limit of 4¾ servings per week.
Why heavy metals are dangerous
According to the complaint, health experts and government agencies are aligned: there is no known safe level of human exposure to lead, cadmium or arsenic. These metals are neurotoxins that accumulate in the body over time and can cause long-lasting, irreversible damage.
Conrad Choiniere, director of the Office of Analytics and Outreach at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, was quoted in the suit: “On the contrary, for the contaminants we are discussing today, we have not identified safe levels of exposure for developmental outcomes.”
Exposure to lead has been linked to brain and kidney damage, anemia, high blood pressure, reproductive harm and cognitive deficits. Cadmium accumulates in the kidneys and liver for up to 38 years after exposure and has been linked to multiple cancers, Alzheimer’s disease and ADHD in children. Arsenic is classified by the World Health Organization as one of “10 chemicals of major public concern.”
Cleaner options exist, plaintiffs say
The complaint argues that protein powder free of heavy metals is achievable, pointing to independent testing that found 16 top-selling protein powders with non-detectable levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. Those products include Premier Protein 100% Whey Vanilla Milkshake, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Vanilla Ice Cream and others identified through Clean Label Project testing.
The suit also notes that many competitor products retail at lower price points. Orgain Organic Protein Powder in Vanilla Bean was priced at approximately $0.79 per ounce, while some competitor products with no detectable heavy metals were priced as low as $0.42 per ounce, according to the complaint.
Growing legislative attention
Regulators and lawmakers are beginning to act. In February 2026, California introduced Senate Bill 1033, which would require mandatory testing and public disclosure of heavy metals in protein products sold in the state. On June 8, 2026, the Texas Attorney General launched an industry-wide investigation into protein powder manufacturers for potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act related to undisclosed heavy metal contamination.
Who is suing
The seven named plaintiffs span multiple states and purchased the products at various Costco locations between 2019 and 2026. Among them, Sandi Morgan of California purchased approximately 120 containers of the Creamy Chocolate Fudge flavor over several years, while Randall Hartwright of Texas purchased between 30 and 40 containers across multiple Dallas-area Costco locations. Each plaintiff says they relied on Costco’s “clean nutrition” marketing and would not have purchased the product — or would have paid significantly less — had the heavy metal content been disclosed.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages and injunctive relief under the Washington Consumer Protection Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act, as well as consumer protection statutes in Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. A jury trial has been demanded.
Costco Wholesale Corporation is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, and operates approximately 600 warehouse locations across the United States. The company has not publicly commented on the suit.