Costco Class Action: Trunature Milk Thistle Supplements are Mislabeled

On Monday, Costco Wholesale Corporation was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging its Trunature milk thistle herbal supplements contain less silymarin, the main active ingredient of milk thistle seeds, than is listed on the product label.

Plaintiff Michelle Sweeney alleges Costco sought to take advantage of the fast-growing nutritional supplement industry and began making herbal nutritional supplements to sell at its stores.

According to the milk thistle supplement class action lawsuit, many supplement makers, including Costco, wanted to “cut corners” to keep manufacturing costs low for their products.

“Unbeknownst to Plaintiff and Class members, who relied upon Costco’s labeling, the supplement Products sold by Costco contained just a fraction of the advertised amount of silymarin – the main component of milk thistle seeds – listed on the label,” Sweeney alleges in the Costco class action lawsuit.

Sweeney says Costco knew that its labeling was deceptive but continued to manufacture, distribute, advertise and sell the Trunature milk thistle supplements in a “false, misleading, unfair, and/or deceptive manner.”

Milk thistle is used as a natural treatment for cirrhosis, gallbladder disorder, hepatitis and jaundice, the Trunature class action lawsuit says.

The Trunature Liver Health Complex label indicates it contains 500 mg of milk thistle extract, standardized for 80 percent silymarin, and the Trunature Milk Thistle supplement label indicates it contains 200 mg milk thistle extract, standardized to 80 percent silymarin.

However, independent analysis conducted by Sweeney’s attorneys found that the Trunature products contained close to half the promised amount of silymarin and just over 40 percent of the promised amount of milk thistle extract. According to the Trunature class action lawsuit, there is no clinical benefit of these products due to the extremely low dosing of the active ingredient.

Sweeney asserts that reasonable consumers would expect the Trunature supplement labels would truthfully state the quantity of ingredients and purity of the products, and would not expect the product label to be deceptive and misleading.

The Costco class action lawsuit alleges Sweeney and the putative Class Members would not have purchased the Trunature milk thistle supplements if they had known they did not contain the promised amount of active ingredients, or that they paid more for the products than they otherwise would have paid.

Sweeney filed the Costco class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and a proposed Class of consumers who purchased Trunature Milk Thistle and Trunature Liver Health Complex supplements from Costco.

The Costco milk thistle supplement class action lawsuit asserts claims for violations of New York business law, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty and unjust enrichment. Sweeney seeks compensatory damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.

Sweeney is represented by Kevin Landau and Miles Greaves of Taus Cebulash & Landau LLP; Shanon J. Carson, Arthur Stock and Shoshana Savett of Berger & Montague PC; Nick Suciu III of Barbat Mansour & Suciu PLLC; and Greg Coleman of Greg Coleman Law.

The Costco Trunature Milk Thistle Herbal Supplement Class Action Lawsuit is Michelle Sweeney v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Case No. 2:17-cv-03353, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.