Velveeta Mac and Cheese “Ready in 3 ½ Minutes” Claim Class Action

One product offered by the Kraft Heinz Foods Company is Velveeta-brand single-serve cups of macaroni and cheese. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the packaging is misleadingly labeled because it claims each mac and cheese cup will be ready in three and a half minutes.

Two classes have been proposed for this action:

• The Florida Class is all persons in Florida who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, New Mexico, Alaska, Iowa, Tennessee, and Virginia who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

Page 2 of the complaint displays an image of an eight-pack of the cups, showing two cups on the front, one with what looks like cheese sauce pouring into it. A seal at the left lower corner of the front says “Ready in 3 ½ Minutes,” with the “3 ½” emphasized in the center of the circle. But the complaint claims that this representation is false and misleading, because it takes longer than that to prepare the product.

Page 3 of the complaint shows the back of the box with the instructions for the preparation of the product. The steps include the following:

• “REMOVE lid and Cheese Sauce Pouch.”
• “ADD water to fill line in cup. STIR.”
• “MICROWAVE, uncovered, on High 3 ½ min. DO NOT DRAIN.”
• “STIR IN contents of cheese sauce pouch.”

Finally, consumers are alerted that “CHEESE SAUCE WILL THICKEN UPON STANDING[.]”

The complaint alleges, “Consumers seeing ‘ready in 3 ½ minutes’ will believe it represents the total amount of time it takes to prepare the Product,” that is, from the opening of the box to the moment it is ready to eat. However, the complaint claims that 3 ½ minutes is the time it takes to complete just one of the steps in the instructions.

The box would have told the truth if it had said “3 ½ minutes to cook in the microwave,” the complaint claims, but to be “ready in 3 ½ minutes,” the cooking time would have to be less than that.

The complaint claims that Kraft Heinz “sold more of the Product and at higher prices than it would have in the absence of this misconduct, resulting in additional profits at the expense of consumers.” It also asserts that the product is “sold at a premium price, approximately no less than $10.99 for eight 2.39 oz cups[.]”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels, Preparation or Use Time