A woman in Florida has sued Kraft Heinz Foods Company, claiming that the time it takes to make her microwavable mug of Velveeta macaroni and cheese is longer than claims on the label.
Amanda Ramirez filed a $5 million class action lawsuit against the company in early November over the “ready in 3 1/2 minutes” claim on the packaging of Velveeta Shells & Cheese tubs.
“Consumers are misled into expecting that the product will be ready to eat in less time than it actually takes to prepare,” the lawsuit states. “Defendant sold more of the product and at higher prices than it would have done without this wrongdoing, resulting in additional profits at the expense of consumers.”
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Kraft Velveeta macaroni and cheese in microwave cups is seen in this undated product image.
In the lawsuit, Ramirez alleges that the phrase “3 1/2 minutes” on the package refers only to the cook time.
“According to the instructions on the back of the packaging, there are four steps to preparing the product,” the suit reads. “First, consumers need to ‘REMOVE the lid and cheese sauce bag’. Next they need to “Add water to fill the line in the cup. STIR.” Third: “MICROWAVE, uncovered, on HIGH 3-1/2 min. DO NOT DRAIN.” Finally, they should stir in the contents of the cheese sauce bag. The defendant then states that “CHEESE SAUCE WILL THICK WHEN STANDING.” “
“Consumers who see ‘ready in 3½ minutes’ will believe that this represents the total time it took to prepare the product, ie. “However, the instructions outlined above indicate that 3.5 minutes is only the amount of time to complete one of several steps were true.”
Ramirez alleges in the lawsuit that the Mac and Cheese products are “sold at a premium price, approximately no less than $10.99 for eight 2.39-ounce cups, excluding taxes and sales.” “is higher than the price of similar products not represented in a misleading manner and higher than it would be sold without the misleading representations and omissions.”
Good Morning America has reached out to Kraft Heinz for comment on the lawsuit. In previous comments to other publications, the company stated, “We are aware of this frivolous lawsuit and will vigorously defend the allegations in the lawsuit.”
Ramirez is suing “individually and on behalf of all others in a similar position,” suggesting this could result in a consumer class-action settlement.
“The members of the class that plaintiff seeks to represent are more than 100 because the product containing the representations described herein has been sold by thousands of stores in the states covered by plaintiff’s proposed classes,” the statement said Legal action.
The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $5 million, “including statutory and criminal penalties, excluding interest and costs.”
A West Palm Beach-based law firm filed the lawsuit with Ramirez, according to the documents, along with Sheehan and Associates, a New York law firm headed by Spencer Sheehan, which has filed hundreds of lawsuits against other popular food products like pop-tarts, NPR first reported .
The Pop Tarts lawsuit alleged that the product’s packaging was “misleading because the label gave consumers the impression that the fruit filling only contains strawberries as the fruit ingredient.” A federal judge in New York dismissed the lawsuit in April, stating that “no reasonable consumer would look at the entire product label, read the words ‘Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts’ next to a picture of a frosted toast, and reasonably expect fresh strawberries are the only ingredient of the product.”