A Florida woman is suing the parent company of Velveeta’s microwavable Shells & Cheese cups after claiming it takes longer to prepare the meal than the 3 1/2 minutes the box label says.
Amanda Ramirez of Hialeah is listed as the plaintiff in the $5 million class-action lawsuit that was filed against Kraft Heinz Foods Company on Nov. 18 in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s Miami Division.
The suit alleges that the statement of “’ready in 3 1/2 minutes’ is false and misleading because the product takes longer than the 3-and-a-half minutes to prepare for consumption.”
It goes on to quote the four steps to prepare the meal that are printed on the box label before alleging that the 3 1/2-minute ready time is “just the length of time to complete one of several steps,” referring to the time it takes to microwave the product after having mixed in other ingredients listed in previous steps.
However, the lawsuit does not state the overall time it took Ramirez to prepare the cups for eating.
The suit claims the macaroni and cheese dish is sold at a “premium price” of $10.99 before tax for eight 2.39-ounce cups, which it says is higher than similar products “represented in a non-misleading way.”
Ramirez, like other consumers, sought to “stretch their money as far as possible when buying groceries,” according to the suit, and “looks to bold statements of value when quickly selecting groceries.”
The class action suit states that she “believed and expected” the product would be ready to eat in a total of 3 1/2 minutes.
The Kraft Heinz Company told Fox Business via email: “We are aware of this frivolous lawsuit and will strongly defend against the allegations in the complaint.”
