Page 7 - IAV Digital Magazine #559

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Florida Woman Sues Kraft For $5M Over Velveeta Pasta Prep Time
By Sarah Do Couto
The appeal of microwave meals is their efficiency, but are they really made as quickly as companies claim? According to
one Florida woma n, the answer is
no.
The signature yel- low packaging for the Velveeta Shell s & Cheese Microwavable Shell Pasta claims the dish is “ready in 31⁄2 min- utes.” On Nov. 18, Florida resi- dent Amanda
Ramirez filed
a US$5-million class action law- suit against Kraft Heinz, which owns Velveeta, alleging it takes much longer to fully prepare the microwaveable pasta.
Ramirez and her
lawyers claim the advertising print- ed on the single- serve meal is “false and mis- leading”; they contend, even though it takes three-and-a-half minutes to microwave the pasta, this time does not account
for the other steps listed in Kraft’s prepara- tion instructions.
The prospective pasta-eater must also add water before microwav- ing, then add cheese sauce and stir to com- bine.
The lawsuit takes particular offence to the fifth step listed on the Velveeta pack- age, which claims the “cheese sauce will thicken upon standing.” This time to thick- en is apparently also not included in the three-and- a-half minutes.
“The label does not state the Product takes ‘31⁄2 minutes to cook in the microwave,’ which would have been true,” the court documents allege.
Kraft Heinz responded pub- licly to the lawsuit in a brief state- ment.
“We are aware of this frivolous law- suit and will strongly defend against the alle- gations in the complaint,” the company wrote.
The lawsuit seeks to represent more than 100 individu- als.
It alleges Velveeta’s three- and-a-half-minute promise (and brand recognition) has allowed Kraft Heinz to charge a premium for a product that is being falsely advertised. In the lawsuit, the lawyers claim Ramirez “would not have pur- chased (the prod- uct) or paid less had she known the truth.”
Along with the $5 million in dam- ages, the lawsuit also asks for Kraft Heinz to “cease its deceptive advertising”
and “be made to engage in a cor- rective advertising campaign.”
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