Four customers have filed a class-action lawsuit against specialty grocer Trader Joe’s and requested the company correct its coffee labels, alleging that it skimped buyers on caffeine and failed to label one of its coffee products as decaf.
The shoppers said the packaging for the product at the center of the lawsuit, French Roast Low Acid Whole Bean Coffee, leads customers to believe they are getting fully caffeinated beverages.
According to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY, the customers argued that fully caffeinated coffee is typically not labeled as such and instead, companies only label products that have reduced caffeine content.
Therefore, the coffee at Trader Joe’s is not labeled decaf and because of this, customers who buy the coffee think they are purchasing a fully-caffeinated product, the lawsuit read. According to the documents, North Carolina-based coffee competitor Puroast Coffee conducted testing as part of a February 2025 lawsuit that allegedly showed the coffee contains less than half of the caffeine of regular blends.
USA TODAY has not independently verified the testing.
