- A Costco customer has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in California, alleging the wholesale giant misled shoppers by marketing its Kirkland Signature Five Cheese Tortelloni as preservative-free despite containing a chemically manufactured additive.
- The lawsuit, filed by Sydney Turner on April 29, claims the product's packaging prominently displays a 'no preservatives' label, which is contradicted by the inclusion of manufactured citric acid on the ingredient panel.
- Turner alleges that manufactured citric acid is produced through industrial fermentation and heavy chemical processing, potentially using genetically modified black mold, and that she would not have purchased the product had she known this.
- The plaintiff is seeking class-action certification for consumers nationwide, along with damages, fees, costs, and a jury trial, arguing that the manufactured citric acid is not naturally extracted from fruit.
- This legal action follows a separate proposed class-action lawsuit filed in March in Washington federal court, accusing Costco of unjustly retaining financial benefits from federal import tariffs, imposed by the administration in February 2025 and later struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2026, by not refunding customers after raising prices.
IN FULL
Costco sued by customer who claims one dish’s no preservatives’ promise is a lie
