A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against Kraft Heinz Foods Company, claiming its Velveeta’s Microwavable Shells and Cheese Cups take longer to prepare than the time stated on the box.
Amanda Ramirez, of Hialeah, has filed a proposed $5 million class action lawsuit against Kraft Heinz Foods Company, alleging the food producer’s Velveeta Shells & Cheese takes longer than advertised to prepare, court documents show.
The class-action suit filed in U.S. District claims that Kraft misled consumers by advertising that the product takes 3.5 minutes until it is ready to be consumed when that is only the amount of time it should be microwaved.
According to the complaint, attorneys for Ramirez filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 18.
The complaint also said that the front of the box reads “Ready in 3 1/2 minutes.” However, the instructions list four steps in making the mac and cheese, and one of them is “Microwave for 3 1/2 minutes.”
The preparation time is longer when you factor in all the steps, which include: removing a cup’s lid and cheese sauce pouch, adding water to the cup’s fill line and stirring, and finally going into the contents of the cheese sauce pouch, per the suit.
The lawsuit needed to indicate how long the entire preparation process took. However, it points out that the mac and cheese would need to be cooked in the microwave for less than 3.5 minutes for it to be ready to eat, start to finish, in that timeframe.
According to the lawsuit, the product is sold at a “premium price” of around $10.99 for eight 2.39 oz cups, which is higher than similar products “represented in a non-misleading way.”
Kraft Heinz Foods Company dismissed the lawsuit as “frivolous” in a statement.
“We are aware of this frivolous lawsuit and will strongly defend against the allegations in the complaint,” a Kraft Heinz Foods Company spokesperson told CNN Monday.
As a result, the suit claims that Kraft Heinz “sold more of the Product and a higher prices than it would have in the absence of this misconduct, resulting in additional profits at the expense of consumers.”
Ramirez claims she would not have purchased the product or paid what she did for it “had she known the truth.”
The lawsuit accuses Kraft Heinz Food Company of violating state and federal laws against deceptive and unfair practices, fraud, false and misleading advertising, breach of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment.
In addition to the $5 million in damages, the plaintiff also seeks punitive damages from Kraft Heinz Foods Company and asks the company “be ordered to cease its deceptive advertising” as well as “be made to engage in a corrective advertising campaign,” according to court documents.
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