The packaging of a container of the brand’s microwave mac and cheese Velveeta says the meal only takes three and a half minutes to cook. But a Florida woman pleads that statement is false – and at the same time decided to sue the manufacturer, Kraft, for $5 million.
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Amanda Ramirez, who lives in Hialeah, a Miami suburb, has filed a $5 million class action lawsuit once morest Kraft Heinz Foods. She alleges that her Velveeta “Shells & Cheese” product is taking longer than expected to cook, according to court documents.
Ramirez’s attorneys filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in South Florida on Nov. 18. She claims that the packaging on the individual bowls of mac and cheese claiming it will be ‘ready in 3 1/2 minutes’ is ‘false and misleading’.
Indeed, the instructions on the label say to put the bowl for 3 and a half minutes in the microwave. But Ramirez’s lawyers argue that this time frame does not take into account the other four steps necessary for preparation: remove the lid and the bag for the sauce, add water, microwave it and stir, according to court documents.
With those extra steps to consider, it would be impossible for the mac and cheese to be ready in just three and a half minutes, according to the complaint.
In response, Kraft Heinz Foods dismissed the complaint, calling it “frivolous” in a statement. “We are aware of this frivolous lawsuit and will strongly defend ourselves once morest the allegations in the complaint,” a spokesperson for the Kraft Heinz Foods Company told CNN Monday.
The lawsuit alleges that Kraft is unfairly profiting from misleading Mac and Cheese Bowl , with customers trusting the well-known brand to be honest.
Lawyers for Ramirez argue that the company sells the product at “a substantial premium” while using its “deceptive” “3 1/2 minute” marketing, which “instantly grabs the attention of all reasonable consumers.”
According to the complaint, Ramirez “is like many consumers who seek bargains when buying groceries.” But, because of the cooking time required, she “paid more for the product than she would have paid and purchased if she had known the truth.”
In addition to the 5 million dollars claimed in damages, Amanda Ramirez asks the company “to be condemned to cease its misleading ” as well as “to be obliged to engage in a corrective campaign”, affirms the court.
