Amazon is being accused of knowingly selling protein powder laced with "toxic levels of heavy toxins."
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The e-commerce giant now joins Costco as retailers being sued for selling contaminated bins of Orgain protein powder.
A class action lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle claims that independent testing found that Orgain protein powder contained harmful levels of lead, cadmium and arsenic.
Amazon Being Sued For Selling Contaminated Product
The lawsuit also accuses Amazon of falsely advertising the contaminated Orgain protein powder as a healthy alternative.
Amazon advertised Orgain's Vanilla Bean and Creamy Chocolate Fudge protein powders as healthy supplements. The platform used product listing descriptions such as "Cleaner Ingredients," "Quality Ingredients," "Higher Standards," "Non-GMO," "USDA ORGANIC" and "Feel Good Energy," according to the lawsuit.
Because of the enticing description, one plaintiff, Dawn Cada of Florida, has purchased 36 orders of Orgain protein powder for her family since 2022, including her child with special needs, according to court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that other customers purchased the protein powder because they were "led to believe" the products "are free from harmful contaminants such as heavy metals."
According to the Consumer Reports study, over two-thirds of the products tested contained unsafe levels of toxins. Some even exceeded safety limits by more than 10 times.
Health Effects of Consuming Heavy Toxins
The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Library of Medicine explained the adverse health effects of consuming such metals. Kidney disease, lung damage, and cancer are among the most severe side effects. The institute explained that the level of exposure influences the effects.
Hagens Berman, the attorneys representing plaintiff Dawn Cada in the lawsuit, stated in a press release that Amazon has violated state consumer protection laws by "[failing] to uphold its duty to ensure products were not deceptively, misleadingly, unfairly or falsely marketed."
"Consumers don't buy products on Amazon expecting them to be tainted with dangerous levels of toxic substances. And that's because Amazon has a duty to ensure that doesn't happen," said Hagens Berman managing partner and co-founder Steve Berman. "Heavy metals are a known human health risk."
"Amazon has more than 130 million unique customers. Meaning the scale of this contamination may be especially significant," Berman added.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status. Plus damages and relief for all members of the affected group.
Amazon has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
