Emily Sortor  |  February 28, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Kirkland-Signature-Wild-Alaskan-Fish-OilA class action lawsuit claims that Costco misrepresents the amount of Omega fatty acids in its Kirkland brand fish oil, advertising an amount more than twice the product’s actual Omega content.

Plaintiff Norman Leibowitz claims that the store-brand fish oil he purchased from Costco was marketed and labeled as containing 1,050 mg Omega unsaturated fatty acids, but according to consumer testing, only contained just over 346 mg of Omega unsaturated fatty acids.

According to Leibowitz, Costco and their fish oil supplier, Trident Seafoods Corporation, intentionally mislead consumers about the quality of the product to increase their profits.

Costco sells many products under its own Kirkland brand, including a product called Wild Alaskan Fish Oil. The mislabeled fish oil class action lawsuit claims that according to Costco’s marketing of its Kirkland brand, Kirkland is “equal to or better than the national brand,” and one advantage that the company gains in producing store brand products is that having a store brand “allows the company to control the quality of [the products].”

So, the Kirkland fish oil class action lawsuit goes on to argue that the fact that the amount of Omega fatty acids is misrepresented is in direct conflict with the alleged purpose and benefits of the Kirkland brand as a whole.

Leibowitz claims that Costco and Trident Seafoods Corporation’s aim in misrepresenting the amount of Omega unsaturated fatty acids is to capitalize on consumers’ desire to purchase a fish oil with a high Omega fatty acid content.

The Kirkland brand omega fatty acid class action lawsuit states that fish oil is generally consumed for its health benefits — it is known to lower triglyceride levels, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, prevent heart disease and stroke, improved clogged arteries, reduce chest pain, and reduce risk of heart failure and blood clots. Omega fatty acid is the active ingredient essential to the vast majority of fish oil’s health benefits.

The Costco fish oil false advertising class action lawsuit claims that because consumers almost exclusively purchase fish oil for its health benefits and because the health benefits of fish oil come almost exclusively from its Omega fatty acid content, consumers look for a high Omega fatty acid content level when purchasing fish oil, and rely on a product’s adverting to make a purchasing decision.

Leibowitz claims that the fact that Kirkland’s fish oil contains a much lower amount of Omega fatty acids than advertised greatly decreases its value to consumers like himself. He claims that had he known that the Wild Alaskan Fish Oil contained less Omega fatty acid than advertised, he would not have purchased the product, or would not have paid as much as he did for it.

This isn’t the first time that Costco has come under fire for this issue. A class action lawsuit filed in March 2017 raised the same concern.

Leibowitz is represented by Jason T. Brown and Nicholas Conlon of JBT Law Group LLC, Nick Suciu III of Barbat Mansour & Suciu PLLC, Jonathan Shub and Kevin Laukaitis of Kohn Swift & Graf PC, and Gregory F. Coleman of Greg Coleman Law PC.

The Costco Mislabeled Kirkland Fish Oil Class Action Lawsuit is Norman Leibowitz v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, et. al., Case No. 1:18-cv-01254, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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342 thoughts onCostco Class Action Says Fish Oil Omega Fatty Acids Mislabeled

  1. Rejeana Turner says:

    Please add me!!

  2. Mary Ann Runewicz says:

    I have been buying this Alaskan Fish oil for a year plus and trusted the labeling was correct. Recently I was listening to a neuroscientist about the benefits of fish oil and the amounts of epa and dha requirements that was best. The Kirkland brand gave no direct amounts of epa or dha but lumped them all as fish oil three different times. That question brought me to investigating this product which led me to this page. I have searched this product before on certain health sites and a few gave this product a very good rating. What I would like to know is, if it is possible to add my name to this suit against Costco.
    Thank you for letting me share.

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