Federal Judge Dismisses Suit Against Costco Over 100% Agave Claims

On Friday, a federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Costco and its private label Kirkland Signature that alleged the “100% de agave” claims on its tequila bottles were fraudulent and misleading. The consumer rights firm Hagens Berman filed the case with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle in November last year after amassing 14 plaintiffs to join the class suit.

The suit claimed Costco knowingly sold tequila with “significant presence of non-agave sugars,” despite labeling its products — including Kirkland Blanco Tequila, Reposado Tequila, Añejo Tequila, Añejo Cristalino Tequila and Extra Tequila Añejo — as “100% de agave” and as “100% agave azul.” The plaintiffs cited results from Site-Specific Natural Isotope Fractionation-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (SNIF-NMR) testing, a method commonly used by government bodies and other regulatory agencies to compliance-check food and beverage products.

The plaintiffs asserted that Costco’s claims misled consumers, and that they would have steered away from Kirkland’s tequila or paid significantly less had they known it was not made entirely of pure agave. The case also alleged Costco knowingly acquired a false “100% de agave” certification that allowed it to sell its tequilas, which range from $18.69 to $48.99, at high prices in the U.S.

The warehouse grocery chain defended its labels by citing product tests conducted in Mexico, which turned out different results than the plaintiffs’ SNIF-NMR. It also pointed to former cases with similar allegations against, in which a U.S. judge ruled the SNIF-NMR as insufficient evidence to debunk the “100% de agave” label.

Costco is not the only tequila vendor to be thrown under question for its pure agave claims. Last month, a New York judge tossed a similar case against Diageo’s Casamigos and Don Julio brands over insufficient testing. Allegations against Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila’s “100% agave” labels have also led to a class action lawsuit, which the company has motioned to dismiss multiple times to no avail.

The article Federal Judge Dismisses Suit Against Costco Over 100% Agave Claims appeared first on VinePair.