If you start your morning with a popular Costco protein powder, you should know independent tests found lead levels up to 6.7 times above a key state warning threshold.

What We Found

The number exists. A proposed class action filed against Costco on July 7, 2026, in federal court in Seattle (Barton v. Costco, W.D. Wash.) says one sample of Orgain Organic Protein, Vanilla Bean, had 3.37 micrograms of lead per serving. That's about 6.7 times California's Proposition 65 level for lead, 0.5 micrograms a day.

Costco does sell Orgain Organic Protein Powder in its warehouses and on Costco.com.

Independent tests" needs context. The testing was done for one of the plaintiffs and his lawyers; the complaint says Microbac Laboratories confirmed metals were present. The 6.7x figure is the highest of five samples. The other four came in at 0.82 to 2.30 micrograms per serving, roughly 1.6 to 4.6 times the Prop 65 level. None of this has been decided in court, and Costco has moved to dismiss the case.

Consumer Reports' own testing (October 2025) found 0.70 micrograms of lead per 46-gram serving of Orgain Vanilla Bean, about 1.4 times (143% of) its level of concern. CR rated it OK to have occasionally, up to about 4¾ servings a week.

Sources

1. Class action complaint, Barton v. Costco, No. 2:26-cv-02364 (W.D. Wash., filed July 7, 2026) (opens in new tab)
2. The Seattle Times (July 8, 2026) (opens in new tab)
3. Hagens Berman case page (opens in new tab)
4. Top Class Actions (Oct. 1, 2026), Costco motion to dismiss (opens in new tab)
5. Consumer Reports (Oct. 14, 2025, updated Jan. 8, 2026) (opens in new tab)
6. NPR (Oct. 16, 2025) (opens in new tab)
7. California OEHHA, Prop 65 lead safe-harbor levels (opens in new tab)
8. FDA, Lead in Food and Foodwares (opens in new tab)
9. Clean Label Project protein study (Jan. 2025) (opens in new tab)