Most children can be quite fussy when it comes to food – they may only want to eat certain things or eat at specific times. When toddlers miss a snack, they can get cranky, and if their favorite snack isn’t an option, god forbid.
Mac and cheese is a staple for both kids and adults. If you’re like most people, you probably grew up with your mom making it from scratch either in the oven or on the stove. If you grew up with the gooey deliciousness of Kraft mac ‘n cheese, then you know how good it is. But even if you didn’t grow up eating it, many people still love mac and cheese and have a favorite recipe or brand.
If you’re a parent who is always on the go, you might opt for whatever seems like it would take the least amount of time to make. Does “ready in 3.5 minutes” sound good? Probably pretty decent.
Kraft Heinz has a new(ish) product on store shelves called Velveeta Shells & Cheese. It looks very similar to the traditional Kraft mac ‘n cheese, but with shell-shaped noodles, and promises to be ready in just 3.5 minutes according to the packaging.
One woman from Florida is taking legal action against Kraft Heinz for presenting false information about their food. The company claimed that the meal would be ready to eat in only 3.5 minutes when in reality, this was not the case. There are several steps required to prepare the product, with only one of those being microwaving it for 3.5 minutes.
The lawsuit reads, “To provide consumers with a Product that is actually ready in 3½ minutes the Product would need to be cooked in the microwave for less than 3-and-a-half minutes so that all the preparation steps could be completed in the 3-and-a-half minutes timeframe.” The lawsuit explains, “Consumers seeing ‘ready in 3½ minutes’ will believe it represents the total amount of time it takes to prepare the Product; however, the directions outlined above show that 3-and-a-half minutes is just the length of time to complete one of several steps. The label does not state the Product takes ‘3½ minutes to cook in the microwave,’ which would have been true.”
Kraft Heinz issued a statement dismissing the lawsuit as “frivolous.”
Is the lawsuit against Kraft Heinz “frivolous”? Should the food company amend its packaging to state that the product needs to be microwaved for 3.5 minutes rather than it being ready in that time frame?
