Costco Class Action: Rotisserie Chicken, Orgain Protein, and Email Settlement

Kirkland Signature rotisserie chicken

Two California shoppers filed a proposed nationwide class action on January 22, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. They say Costco prominently advertised its Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken as having no preservatives, while the ingredient list included sodium phosphate and carrageenan. The complaint claims the false advertising cost shoppers tens of millions of dollars or more. Claims are brought under California's consumer protection and false advertising laws and the Washington Consumer Protection Act.

Sodium phosphate helps meat hold moisture, and carrageenan is a thickener and stabilizer. The dispute is whether those functions make them "preservatives" in a shopper's eyes.

Orgain protein powder sold at Costco

On July 7, 2026, seven consumers filed a proposed class action against Costco in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. They claim Costco marketed Orgain Organic Protein Powder as "high quality, clean, and nutritious" without disclosing lead, cadmium, and arsenic. The suit targets Costco as the seller; Orgain has said its products are safe. The case followed Consumer Reports testing in October 2025 that found more than two-thirds of 23 protein products had more lead per serving than CR considers safe for a day.

Promotional emails to Washington residents

Aaland v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, No. 25-2-16392-0 SEA in King County Superior Court, was filed October 14, 2025. It claimed Costco sent Washington residents marketing emails with false or misleading subject lines, in violation of Washington's Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA). Costco agreed to settle without admitting wrongdoing.

In the chicken case, Costco argued that the plaintiffs' theory is "fatally flawed" because FDA regulations and the label itself contradict it, and that both ingredients support moisture and texture during cooking. Costco also pointed out that the chicken's $4.99 price did not change after it removed the "no preservatives" signs earlier in 2026, which it says undercuts the claim that shoppers paid a premium. We found no ruling on the motion as of late September 2026.

The Orgain case is at the pleading stage. No class has been certified in either product case.

The email settlement received preliminary approval on June 23, 2026. The court will decide whether to grant final approval at a hearing on October 2, 2026. For details, see our Costco $14 million email settlement page.

Food labeling class actions follow a predictable path, and knowing it helps set expectations. First comes a motion to dismiss, where the company argues the label is not misleading as a matter of law or that federal rules preempt the claim. That is where the chicken case stands, after Costco's June 4, 2026 motion. If the case survives, the parties exchange documents and data in discovery, then the plaintiffs ask the court to certify a class.

Many cases settle after surviving the motion to dismiss or around class certification, and many others are dropped. The Costco email case, filed October 14, 2025, reached preliminary approval of a $14 million settlement on June 23, 2026, about 8 months later, which is fast for a class action and reflects the fixed statutory damages available under Washington law. Product labeling cases without statutory damages usually take longer. See how long class actions take.

• Chicken buyers: anyone in the U.S. who bought the Kirkland Signature Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken during the period Costco advertised it as preservative-free is in the proposed class. The final class period would be set by the court.
• Protein powder buyers: people who bought Orgain Organic Protein Powder at Costco, with state subclasses depending on where they live.
• Email recipients: Washington residents who received a Costco commercial email from June 2, 2021 through July 7, 2026. If you did not file by August 24, 2026, you generally cannot get a payment now.

You do not need to sign up to be part of a proposed class. If a settlement comes, notices usually go to members by email, and Costco has purchase records for members. See how joining a class action works.

For the chicken and protein cases, no settlement exists. A successful refund case usually returns part of the price paid. With a $4.99 chicken, even frequent buyers would likely see modest amounts, which is why Costco's own purchase records matter: they could let members claim for every chicken rather than a small no-proof amount.

For the email case, the settlement pays pro rata cash with no proof required, meaning the $14 million fund, after fees and costs, is split among valid claims. Washington's CEMA sets damages at $100 per violating email or actual damages, whichever is greater, which is why these cases settle for large sums even when each email caused no real loss. See how settlement money is divided.

One more point on the email case: the per-person amount depends heavily on how many people filed. A $14 million fund shared among a small number of claimants can pay meaningful amounts, while a large claim rate spreads it thin. Attorney fees, administration costs, and service awards, if approved, come out of the fund first. The court will review those requests at the October 2, 2026 hearing. After final approval, payments usually go out only once any appeals are resolved, so a delay of several months is normal. See what to do if a payment is late.

The food cases are false advertising claims. The legal test in California and most states is whether a reasonable consumer would likely be misled. For "no preservatives," courts look at what the ingredient does in the product and what shoppers understand the phrase to mean. For heavy metals, courts ask whether leaving out information about trace contaminants is misleading when no federal limit is exceeded.

The email case is statutory. CEMA, at RCW 19.190, bars commercial emails to Washington residents with false or misleading subject lines, and violations also count under the state Consumer Protection Act. Because damages are set by statute, plaintiffs do not have to prove they lost money. That is the same reason spam text lawsuits can succeed.

For the protein powder case, there is an added wrinkle: Costco is the seller, not the manufacturer. Retailers can be sued under many state consumer laws for products they market and sell, but they often argue they relied on the maker's testing and had no reason to know about contaminants. How the court treats a retailer's duty to test or disclose will be a key issue as the Orgain case moves forward.

Costco is unusual among retailers because it ties almost every purchase to a membership number. That makes proof of purchase much easier than in most food cases, and it is worth pulling your records now while the cases are pending.

1. Online account. Sign in to your Costco account and open the orders and purchases section. Warehouse receipts are usually listed alongside online orders, and you can search or filter for items such as the rotisserie chicken or Orgain protein powder.
2. At the warehouse. If you cannot find older receipts online, ask the membership desk whether they can help with your purchase history.
3. Save copies. Download or screenshot receipts showing the item, date, and price. Records can age out, and you may want them months from now.
4. Note the signs. The chicken case is about "no preservatives" claims on in-store signs and online listings, which Costco has since removed. If you ever photographed the signage, keep that too.

At $4.99 per chicken, a household buying one bird a week spends about $260 a year on Costco rotisserie chickens, which shows why the plaintiffs describe the case in terms of total sales rather than any one purchase. Any individual refund would still likely be a fraction of the price, not the full cost.

For the email settlement, the key record is the notice you received with a claim ID. If you filed, keep your confirmation email until payments are made after final approval.

The Costco email settlement claim deadline was August 24, 2026, and it has passed. For the product cases, there is no claim deadline yet. The statute of limitations for the Washington Consumer Protection Act is 4 years, and California's consumer laws allow 3 to 4 years, depending on the claim. Filing a class action generally pauses the clock for proposed class members.

If a settlement is reached in the chicken or protein powder case, expect a new claim deadline, usually a few months after notice begins, plus separate deadlines to opt out or object. Missing a claim deadline generally means no payment, even if you were a member.

The Costco email settlement's August 24, 2026 claim deadline has passed, and the chicken and protein cases have no claim process yet.

1. Check your Costco account for past rotisserie chicken and protein powder purchases and save a copy.
2. Keep any Orgain tubs with lot numbers.
3. If you filed an email claim, keep your claim ID; payments depend on final approval on October 2, 2026. Watch the official settlement website, WashingtonCommercialEmailSettlement.com, for updates.
4. Ignore third-party sites asking for fees to "join" a Costco lawsuit.

If you think you have a larger individual claim, independent attorneys can look at it. A free case review takes about two minutes. Related: Garden of Life protein lead case and Starbucks lawsuits.

How the free case review works: you answer a few questions about what you bought, when, and what happened. It costs nothing and does not commit you to anything. If your situation matches the kinds of claims independent attorneys are handling, one may reach out. For the email settlement, remember that only the official settlement website can process claims.