What to Buy and Skip at Costco: Every Verdict on the Shelf (2026)
The 30 Second Summary
Costco sells 55 products we hold a verdict on. Fourteen clear every check, and nine of those are in the kitchen and cleaning aisles.
- Formula, coffee and dinner. Bobbie Organic Original formula tested non detect for lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury in a steel can. The Kirkland Organic Ethiopia whole bean coffee is one ingredient, and Rao's Homemade Marinara puts tomato in glass instead of a lined can.
- The kitchen: steel, iron and glass. The Tramontina 12 piece Tri-Ply Clad set is uncoated stainless down to the lids, the Lodge Chef Collection skillets are bare cast iron, and the JoyJolt Haven mugs are plain borosilicate glass.
- Water you can trust. The AquaTru Glass Carafe is reverse osmosis certified to NSF/ANSI 53 and 58 and collects the water in glass, and the Fellow Stagg EKG boils it in stainless steel.
- Cleaning without film or fragrance. Blueland's Fragrance Free dishwasher tablets and its Free & Clear laundry tablets are bare pressed tablets with nothing wrapped around them. For floors, both the Shark Navigator with Reveal and the Dyson Gen5detect Extra seal the whole machine around a HEPA filter.
- The bathroom aisle has two. Dr. Bronner's peppermint castile soap, bar and liquid, names every ingredient and uses no fragrance umbrella. The other 41 products carry a catch, and for four of the biggest the better buy is in the same warehouse.
How to Read This List
People shop at a shop, not in a product category, so this guide is sorted the way a Costco trip runs: by aisle. It covers every product on Costco's US website at the end of October 2026 that already carries one of our verdicts, and each verdict is the same one Product Check gives for that product. Nothing here is graded on a Costco curve. A product that passes here would pass on any other shelf, and a catch found here follows the product wherever it is sold.
There are three verdicts. Buy means the product clears all four checks: what is in it, what touches it, what independent testing found, and its legal and recall record. Careful means one of those caught something specific, and whether it matters depends on how you use the product. Skip means a finding we would not bring home. Costco sells far more than these 55 products, and a product missing from this page has no verdict yet. Missing is not a pass.
The pattern is the useful part. The kitchen, water and cleaning aisles hold nine of the fourteen buys, because the questions there are about materials, and stainless steel, cast iron, glass and a bare pressed tablet answer them for good. The aisles that go in your mouth or on your skin are where independent labs keep finding things: metals in cocoa, spice and toothpaste abrasives, fluorine in pads and floss, a maker's plant under an FDA warning letter. Those findings belong to the categories more than to Costco, which is why the same aisles read much the same at any store.
The Fourteen We Would Buy
Each card is the Costco listing itself, the pack and size the warehouse sells, and each verdict was reached on that exact item. Where Costco sells a model of its own, such as the Dyson and the Shark, the verdict is on Costco's model number, not on a sibling sold elsewhere.
Bobbie Organic Original Infant Formula, 14.1 oz, 2 pack
USDA Organic, lactose the only carbohydrate, no palm oil, DHA without hexane extraction. Steel can. Lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury non detect in a 2026 independent lab test.
AquaTru 64 oz Glass Carafe Countertop Reverse Osmosis
Four stage countertop reverse osmosis, no plumbing. IAPMO certified to NSF/ANSI 42, 53, 58, 401 and 372. Filtered water collects in a 64 ounce borosilicate glass carafe.
Blueland Dishwasher Tablets, Fragrance Free, 220 count
Bare pressed tablet with no film, in a compostable paper pouch. Sodium citrate, carbonate and percarbonate with enzymes. No fragrance or dye. EPA Safer Choice certified.
Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle
304 stainless steel interior, spout and lid underside, so no plastic touches the water. Gooseneck spout, variable temperature control, built in brew timer, 0.9 litre capacity.
Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce, 31.7 oz, 2 count
Tomatoes, olive oil, salt, garlic, basil and oregano, no added sugar. Glass jar instead of a lined can. The metal lid has a plastic liner above the sauce.
Kirkland Signature Organic Ethiopia Whole Bean Coffee, 2 lbs
Single ingredient USDA Organic whole bean coffee, Ethiopian heirloom, light roast. Dry beans in a valved plastic bag. No recall, notice or lawsuit names it.
Tramontina 12-piece Tri-Ply Clad Stainless Steel Cookware Set
18/10 stainless steel cooking surfaces and lids on every piece, aluminum core sealed between steel layers, riveted stainless handles. No coated piece in the set. Model 80116/003DS.
Lodge Chef Collection 2-piece Cast Iron Skillet Set
Bare cast iron, each pan cast in one piece, seasoned with soybean oil only. A 12 inch Everyday Pan and a 14 inch skillet. No enamel, no coating, made in the USA.
JoyJolt Haven 13.5 oz Double Wall Glass Mugs, Set of 6
Clear borosilicate glass, double wall, 13.5 oz. No lid, paint, metallic rim or plastic part touches the drink. Microwave, dishwasher and freezer safe.
Blueland Laundry Detergent Tablets, Free & Clear, 260 count
Bare pressed tablet with no film, in compostable paper pouches. Washing soda, enzymes and two surfactants made without ethoxylation. No fragrance, dye or optical brightener.
Shark Navigator Lift-Away with Reveal (UV740)
Anti-Allergen Complete Seal around a HEPA filter rated 99.99% at 0.3 microns. Corded upright with a lift away pod, self cleaning brushroll and 0.8 quart dust cup.
Dyson Gen5detect Extra Cordless Stick Vacuum
Whole machine sealed HEPA filtration rated 99.99% at 0.1 microns. Cordless, 70 minute run time, two cleaner heads and a low reach adaptor. Model 637380-01.
Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Peppermint Bar Soap, 6 pack
Saponified organic coconut, palm, olive and hemp oils with jojoba, two named mint oils, salt, citric acid and tocopherol. Every ingredient named. Recycled paper wrapper, no plastic.
Dr. Bronner's Hemp Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap, 25 fl oz, 2 count
Saponified organic coconut, palm, olive and hemp oils with jojoba and two named mint oils. Every ingredient named, no fragrance umbrella. Recycled PET bottle, rinsed off.
A few carry an honest note that does not change the verdict. The AquaTru's unfiltered water waits in a plastic fill tank, and only the clean side is glass. Rao's lid has a plastic sealing liner that faces the air gap at the top of the jar rather than the sauce. The Shark and Dyson filtration figures are the makers' own ratings, with no independent exhaust measurement published for either model. Dr. Bronner's peppermint stings eyes, and the maker suggests it for ages three and up.
No independent lab has tested the coffee, the soaps, the cookware or the tablets. What each one passes on is a fully named label or a material that puts nothing into what it touches, and a clean legal and recall record.
Four of the swaps in this guide never leave the warehouse. The cleanest formula is on the same shelf as the two we would skip, the glass carafe filter is a few feet from the pitchers, Blueland's laundry tablets sit beside the laundry soda, and the marinara is next to the Alfredo.
The Baby Aisle
Eleven products we hold a verdict on, and the aisle where Costco's bulk packs carry the most weight, because a family buys diapers, wipes and formula by the case. One clears every check. The four skips are the products a parent is most likely to reach for, and two of them are the formulas stacked beside the one we would buy. The warehouse's own diapers and wipes, and Huggies Plus beside them, all read careful.
Kirkland Signature ProCare Infant Formula
ProCare, in both the standard and Gentle versions, is made by Perrigo, which received an FDA warning letter in August 2023 over how it handled Cronobacter in production, and the formula was not retested in the 2026 round. Consumer Reports placed it in its cleanest tier in 2025, so this is about the plant rather than the powder. Instead: Bobbie, on the same shelf.
Similac 360 Total Care
The formula itself tested clean in Consumer Reports' rounds. The verdict comes from the maker's record: the 2022 Sturgis plant recall for Cronobacter after infant illnesses and deaths, and the litigation over necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants, which Abbott agreed in September 2026 to settle for 670 million dollars without admitting liability. Instead: Bobbie.
Pampers Swaddlers
French agency ANSES in 2020, and Greenpeace testing, flagged trace dioxins, furans, PCBs and glyphosate in Pampers diapers, which a baby wears against the skin around the clock. A class action separately alleges that the Pampers Pure line sold as plant based is mostly petrochemical. Instead: our diaper guide.
Desitin Maximum Strength Diaper Rash Cream
Independent testing published by Lead Safe Mama found about 3,300 parts per billion of lead in the 40 percent zinc paste. The lead arrives with the zinc, because zinc ore carries it naturally, and the brand disputes the results. The ingredient list also names talc, and the paste is an oil based formula in a plastic tub. Instead: our diaper cream guide.
Kudos Cotton Liner Diapers
In Mamavation's 2023 round, size 4 returned up to 53 ppm organic fluorine, the highest disposable result of that round, while size 5 in the same materials came back non detect. Kudos had the diapers retested in December 2023 and that lab found no PFAS, so the two results disagree. More in our diaper guide.
Kirkland Signature Ultra Soft Diapers
Mamavation's 2023 testing found 26 ppm organic fluorine, a marker for PFAS, on the inside of a Kirkland diaper, the side against the baby's skin, and 10 ppm in a second sample. Costco has since relaunched the line as Ultra Soft, and nobody has tested the new diaper, so the old result stands until a lab finds it clean. The liner is polypropylene and the pulp is made without elemental chlorine. Instead: our diaper guide.
Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes, Fragrance Free
Nine named ingredients, no fragrance, and no PFAS found in Consumer Reports' 2026 testing. The cloth is sold in the US as TENCEL without saying whether it is lyocell or modal, and no certification tests the finished wipe. A class action alleging 3.7 ppb PFAS against the naturally derived claim survived a motion to dismiss in 2025, then was dropped by both sides with no terms made public. Instead: our baby wipes guide.
Huggies Plus Diapers
The club store version of Huggies Little Movers. Polyurethane elastics sit at the waist and leg cuffs against the skin, no independent lab has tested this diaper, and mainstream disposables carried trace dioxins in French testing. Two pending class actions allege Little Movers was quietly reformulated with a new blue liner that parents link to rashes, and that its hypoallergenic label is false. Instead: our diaper guide.
Mustela Gentle Cleansing Gel
The ingredient list includes ethoxylated ingredients, and ethoxylation can leave 1,4 dioxane behind, which no label can show either way. The FDA found it in 47 of 82 children's bath and hair products in a 2018 survey. Instead: our baby wash guide.
Aveeno Baby Wash & Shampoo
The ingredient list hides its scent behind the single word fragrance. A class action over "100% naturally sourced" claims on this product line settled for 2.4 million dollars in 2019. Costco sells it bundled with the lotion. Instead: our baby wash guide.
Pantry and Snacks
Two products in this aisle clear every check: Rao's Marinara and the Kirkland Organic Ethiopia coffee. The rest are a lesson in where metals live: cocoa and spice carry lead and cadmium in from the soil, and six of the products below are chocolate, cocoa or cinnamon. Tea adds a second question, pesticides that dissolve into the cup, and a third on the bag itself.
Kirkland Signature Protein Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Chocolate Brownie
One 60 g Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar carried 0.90 micrograms of lead, 180 percent of California's 0.5 microgram daily level, and the Chocolate Brownie bar 0.66 micrograms, 132 percent. Both also list natural flavors. Instead: our protein bar testing.
Nature Valley Protein Bar, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate
No lab result exists for this bar. In a 2025 round of 165 protein and snack bars every bar carried detectable heavy metals and 22 percent were over California's lead level, and this one carries cocoa solids twice, as chocolate liquor and as cocoa. It also lists natural flavor. Instead: our protein bar testing.
Kirkland Signature Organic Ground Saigon Cinnamon
Independent testing published by Lead Safe Mama in 2025 found lead at 493 parts per billion, cadmium at 383, mercury at 13 and arsenic at 15. The bar proposed for food children eat is 5 ppb for lead and for cadmium. A sprinkle is a small dose, and a daily habit adds up. Instead: our lead tested cinnamon guide.
Dove Dark Chocolate Bars
As You Sow's 2022 testing found 5.2 and 5.8 micrograms of cadmium per serving in two samples, 127 and 141 percent of the 4.1 microgram level that triggers a California cancer and reproductive harm warning. Instead: our chocolate testing.
Bigelow Herbal Tea Variety Pack
Since 2018 every Bigelow tea sold in California has sat under a lead consent judgment, and a jury found in 2025 that its American made labelling was fraudulent. Conventionally grown tea also commonly carries pesticide residues that reach the cup. Instead: our tea guide.
Stash Tea Essentials Variety Pack
A 2025 class action alleges Stash tea bags carry PFAS, resting on a 388 ppm total fluorine reading in Mamavation's December 2024 Earl Grey round. It has no ruling yet. Conventional tea also carries pesticide residues. Instead: our tea guide.
Lipton Original Tea Bags
The bag is sealed with a fibre Lipton does not identify, and it sits in the hot water you drink. The rest of the pack is paper. Conventionally grown tea also commonly carries pesticide residues. Instead: our tea guide.
Rao's Homemade Alfredo Sauce
The label lists Butter (cream, natural flavorings), an umbrella that names no source, so part of the formula cannot be read. The rest is cream, cheese and egg yolk in the same glass jar as the marinara. No lab has tested it. Instead: the marinara, on the same shelf.
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars
Consumer Reports' 2023 testing found lead at 67 percent of California's daily warning level per serving, the highest of the five milk chocolate bars it tested, though none of the five went over. The list also names natural flavor. Instead: our chocolate testing.
Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa
Consumer Reports' 2023 testing found lead at 125 percent of California's daily warning level in a one tablespoon serving, the second highest of the cocoa powders it tested. Instead: our chocolate testing.
Kitchen and Water
The strongest aisle in the warehouse, with five of the fourteen buys: the glass carafe filter, the steel kettle, the Tramontina set, the Lodge skillets and the glass mugs. It is also where Costco puts the right answer next to the near miss, with the carafe a few feet from the pitchers.
Brita Champlain Water Filter Pitcher
Brita's standard filter is certified for chlorine taste, and no Brita filter carries NSF/ANSI 401 certification for microplastics. The Elite filter adds lead reduction, which is real, and still not the job most people buy a filter to do. Instead: the AquaTru Glass Carafe, in the same aisle, or our water filter guide.
FIJI Natural Artesian Water
A 2024 Columbia University study counted roughly 240,000 plastic particles per litre in bottled water. That is about bottled water in general and has not been confirmed for this brand. Instead: filtered tap water, or water sold in glass. More in our bottled water guide.
Ziploc Seal Top and Slider Bags
SC Johnson markets these for raw meat, the freezer, and defrosting and reheating in a microwave. Fat and heat against polyethylene is the pairing our packaging standard scores worst. They tested clean on PFAS. Instead: our food storage guide.
Ninja Crispi Glass Air Fryer
The Crispi cooks in a borosilicate glass vessel rather than a coated basket, which is why it is the one Ninja we do not skip. Its PFAS free claim has no third party verification. Instead: our air fryer guide.
Souper Cubes Silicone Freezer Trays, 5 pack
The trays are platinum cured silicone, which puts nothing into soup, and they are the part food sits in for weeks. The lid is polypropylene, the maker names no resin on it, and liquid food meets it when a full tray is carried or set down unevenly. The trays, not the lids, are rated for the oven. Instead: our food storage guide.
Cleaning and Home
Four buys here, and they answer the two questions this aisle raises. A detergent should name every ingredient and come without a plastic film around it, and Blueland's dishwasher and laundry tablets do both. A vacuum should keep what it picks up inside the machine, and the Shark Navigator with Reveal and the Dyson Gen5detect Extra seal the whole body around a HEPA filter.
Nellie's Laundry Soda, Unscented
A 2018 class action named this Laundry Soda over its All Natural label, pointing to its ethoxylate surfactant and sodium metasilicate, and it ended in 2019 on terms never made public. The ethoxylate is the chemistry that can leave 1,4 dioxane behind, and nobody has published a test of it. It comes in a plastic pail. Instead: Blueland's laundry tablets, in the same aisle.
Lysol Disinfecting Wipes
The wipes disinfect with quaternary ammonium compounds, named on the label as alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, which are respiratory and skin sensitizers and a poor fit for surfaces a baby touches or mouths. Instead: our cleaning products guide.
Levoit Core Air Purifiers
Levoit is named in consumer class action litigation alleging its purifiers are misrepresented as meeting the True HEPA standard they advertise. On a purifier the filtration number is the whole product. Instead: our air purifier guide.
Dyson V10 Cordless Vacuum
A capable cleaner, best on hard floors, but without whole machine HEPA filtration, so do not rely on it for dust or allergen control. Instead: our vacuum guide.
Personal Care and Supplements
Two products in this aisle clear every check, and both are Dr. Bronner's peppermint castile soap. Toothpaste is the clearest case on the other side: lead rides in on hydrated silica, the abrasive that whitening pastes rely on most, and every whitening paste on this list either measured lead itself or shares the abrasive with a sibling that did. Floss and pads are the second: fluorine testing found PFAS markers in both, even in an organic cotton brand.
Colgate Total Advanced Whitening Toothpaste
Colgate Total Whitening measured 539 parts per billion of lead and 10.4 of mercury, above the 500 ppb figure Germany's food safety agency applies to toothpaste. Instead: our toothpaste guide.
Crest 3D White Toothpaste
Crest Regular measured 399 parts per billion of lead and 6 of mercury, and the 3D White pastes share its hydrated silica abrasive. The flavour is listed only as flavor. Instead: our toothpaste guide.
Sensodyne Whitening Toothpastes
Sensodyne Extra Whitening measured 116 parts per billion of lead and 16 of arsenic, above the bars we apply to anything that ends up partly swallowed. Costco sells three whitening versions. Instead: our toothpaste guide.
Boka Ela Mint Toothpaste
Boka Ela Mint measured 32 parts per billion of lead, 10 of mercury and 21 of arsenic. Lower than the big brands, and still above the bars for an ingested product. Instead: our toothpaste guide.
Always Ultra Thin Pads
The cover is polypropylene and the backsheet polyethylene, so the material against skin is plastic. Independent analysis found the pads emitting styrene, chloroform and other volatile compounds, none disclosed on the pack, and Mamavation's 2024 testing found 15 to 21 ppm organic fluorine in Always liners. Instead: our period products guide.
Cora Organic Cotton Pads
The organic cotton is the top sheet only. The core and the leakproof backsheet are synthetic, and Mamavation's 2024 testing found 30 ppm organic fluorine in a Cora organic cotton liner, the highest of the 46 products in the panel. Instead: our period products guide.
Neutrogena Beach Defense Sunscreen Spray
The formula relies on avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene, and Neutrogena was among the four brands with the highest benzene readings in Valisure's sunscreen testing. Johnson & Johnson recalled five of its aerosol sunscreens in 2021. Instead: our mineral sunscreen guide.
Thinksport Mineral Sunscreen
Independent testing published by Lead Safe Mama in 2025 found the brand's baby sunscreen carried the highest lead of any tested to that date, above Washington State's 1 ppm limit for cosmetics, and the highest cadmium of 31 sunscreens. Instead: our mineral sunscreen guide.
Ritual Essential Prenatal
Independent testing in 2024 found 10 parts per billion of lead, with arsenic, cadmium and mercury non detect. That is twice the bar for anything swallowed, and still the lowest of every complete capsule prenatal in the same 25 product round. Instead: our prenatal guide.
Oral-B Glide Advanced Deep Clean Floss
Glide's smooth coating is PTFE, the same polymer as Teflon. Mamavation's lab measured 248,900 ppm organic fluorine in Glide Pro-Health Deep Clean Floss, about a quarter of its weight, and a 2019 study tied Glide use to higher PFAS levels in the blood. Instead: our PFAS free floss guide.
Philips Sonicare Electric Toothbrushes
Strong clinical evidence and a clean safety record. The handle is a plastic Philips does not name and the bristles are nylon, both in the mouth twice a day, a limitation every electric brush shares. Instead: our toothbrush guide.
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey
Informed Choice certification covers banned substances, not heavy metals or plastics, and no lab has published metals results for it. Clean Label Project's protein powder reports have repeatedly found lead and cadmium across the category. Instead: our protein powder testing.
The Whole Shelf, Side by Side
All 55, in aisle order, with the one reason behind each verdict. Product names follow Costco's listings, because that is what the label in the warehouse will say.
| Product | Aisle | Verdict | The reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bobbie Organic Original Infant Formula | Baby | Buy | Metals non detect, steel can |
| Kirkland Signature ProCare Infant Formula | Baby | Skip | Maker's FDA warning letter over Cronobacter |
| Similac 360 Total Care | Baby | Skip | Maker's recall and NEC litigation |
| Pampers Swaddlers | Baby | Skip | Trace dioxins and glyphosate |
| Desitin Maximum Strength | Baby | Skip | About 3,300 ppb lead, talc |
| Kudos Cotton Liner Diapers | Baby | Careful | Labs disagree on fluorine |
| Kirkland Signature Diapers | Baby | Careful | 26 ppm organic fluorine, untested since |
| Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes | Baby | Careful | Cloth fibre unnamed, PFAS suit dropped |
| Huggies Plus Diapers | Baby | Careful | Polyurethane elastics, reformulation suits |
| Mustela Gentle Cleansing Gel | Baby | Careful | Ethoxylated ingredients |
| Aveeno Baby Wash & Shampoo | Baby | Careful | Undisclosed fragrance |
| Rao's Homemade Marinara | Pantry | Buy | Glass jar, short ingredient list |
| Kirkland Signature Organic Ethiopia Coffee | Pantry | Buy | One ingredient, no record against it |
| Rao's Homemade Alfredo Sauce | Pantry | Careful | Natural flavorings in the butter |
| Kirkland Signature Protein Bars | Pantry | Careful | Lead over California's daily level |
| Nature Valley Protein Bar | Pantry | Careful | Cocoa heavy, untested |
| Kirkland Signature Organic Saigon Cinnamon | Pantry | Careful | 493 ppb lead |
| Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars | Pantry | Careful | Lead detected, natural flavor |
| Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa | Pantry | Skip | Lead over the warning level |
| Dove Dark Chocolate Bars | Pantry | Skip | Cadmium over the warning level |
| Bigelow Herbal Tea | Pantry | Careful | Lead consent judgment |
| Stash Tea | Pantry | Careful | Pending PFAS class action |
| Lipton Original Tea Bags | Pantry | Careful | Unnamed heat seal fibre |
| AquaTru Glass Carafe | Kitchen | Buy | Certified reverse osmosis, glass carafe |
| Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle | Kitchen | Buy | Stainless water path |
| Tramontina 12-piece Tri-Ply Clad Set | Kitchen | Buy | Uncoated 18/10 stainless, steel lids |
| Lodge Chef Collection Skillet Set | Kitchen | Buy | Bare cast iron, oil seasoning |
| JoyJolt Haven Glass Mugs | Kitchen | Buy | Plain borosilicate, nothing else |
| Brita Champlain Pitcher | Kitchen | Careful | Certified for taste, not PFAS |
| FIJI Water | Kitchen | Careful | Plastic bottled water |
| Ninja Crispi | Kitchen | Careful | Unverified PFAS free claim |
| Souper Cubes Freezer Trays | Kitchen | Careful | Plastic lid over fatty food |
| Ziploc Bags | Kitchen | Skip | Fat and heat against polyethylene |
| Blueland Dishwasher Tablets | Cleaning | Buy | No film, no fragrance, Safer Choice |
| Blueland Laundry Tablets | Cleaning | Buy | No film, no ethoxylates, no fragrance |
| Shark Navigator with Reveal (UV740) | Cleaning | Buy | Sealed body, HEPA filter |
| Dyson Gen5detect Extra | Cleaning | Buy | Whole machine sealed HEPA |
| Nellie's Laundry Soda | Cleaning | Careful | Ethoxylate, settled labelling suit |
| Levoit Core Purifiers | Cleaning | Careful | True HEPA class action |
| Dyson V10 | Cleaning | Careful | No whole machine HEPA |
| Lysol Disinfecting Wipes | Cleaning | Skip | Quaternary ammonium disinfectants |
| Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Bar Soap | Personal care | Buy | Every ingredient named, paper wrap |
| Dr. Bronner's Hemp Peppermint Liquid Soap | Personal care | Buy | Every ingredient named, rinse off |
| Colgate Total Advanced Whitening | Personal care | Skip | 539 ppb lead |
| Crest 3D White | Personal care | Careful | Abrasive that carried lead |
| Sensodyne Whitening | Personal care | Careful | 116 ppb lead |
| Boka Ela Mint | Personal care | Careful | Lead, mercury, arsenic |
| Oral-B Glide Floss | Personal care | Skip | PTFE, record fluorine reading |
| Philips Sonicare | Personal care | Careful | Plastic handle, nylon bristles |
| Always Ultra Thin Pads | Personal care | Skip | Plastic against skin, styrene |
| Cora Organic Cotton Pads | Personal care | Skip | 30 ppm organic fluorine |
| Neutrogena Beach Defense | Personal care | Skip | Chemical filters, benzene record |
| Thinksport Mineral Sunscreen | Personal care | Careful | Lead and cadmium |
| Ritual Essential Prenatal | Supplements | Careful | 10 ppb lead |
| Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey | Supplements | Careful | No metals numbers, category tests high |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kirkland Signature safe?
Kirkland is a label Costco puts on products made by many different manufacturers, so it has no single answer. Its formula is made by Perrigo, its wipes by Nice-Pak, and its diapers, protein bars, cinnamon and coffee by other suppliers, and each one is judged on its own record. Seven Kirkland products are on this list, and one of them, the Organic Ethiopia whole bean coffee, clears every check. A Kirkland product we have not rated has no verdict from us, and a good result on one Kirkland item says nothing about another.
Does the warehouse carry the same things as the website?
Not exactly. Warehouses carry more than the website, especially fresh and refrigerated food, and they rotate stock by region and season. This list covers what Costco sold on its US website at the end of October 2026. In the warehouse, match the exact product name and size on the label to the one here, because a verdict belongs to one product. A different flavour, formula or pack from the same brand is a different product.
Why do so many products carry a catch?
Because a product has to clear four separate checks to be a buy: what is in it, what touches it, what independent testing found, and the legal and recall record. Most products miss on one of the four rather than all of them, which is why most of this list reads careful rather than skip. The catches belong to the categories more than to Costco, such as minerals in toothpaste abrasives and metals in cocoa, so a supermarket sorted the same way comes out much the same. Where Costco sells glass, steel, cast iron and film free tablets, the verdicts are good.
What should I do about a product that is not on either list?
Treat it as unknown, not as a pass. Costco sells far more than the 55 products we hold a verdict on, including much of its fresh food and most of its own Kirkland range. A product missing from this page has simply not been rated yet. Product Check answers for anything we have rated, and asking about one that is missing is how a product gets added.
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