MIAMI (Legal Newsline) - A class action lawsuit complaining microwave macaroni and cheese takes longer than 3 1/2 minutes to prepare "stretches the bounds of plausibility well past the breaking point."
Attorneys representing Kraft Heinz made that argument in an April 7 motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by plaintiff Amanda Ramirez and her lawyers, William Wright of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Spencer Sheehan of Great Neck, N.Y.
They complain packages of Velveeta macaroni and cheese promote being "ready in 3 1/2 minutes," though that's how long they take to cook in the microwave. Consumers wouldn't have paid as much had they known there was extra time needed to prepare the cups with water and stir cheese in after they are microwaved, the lawsuit claims.
"This all seems extremely straightforward and self-explanatory, but not according to Plaintiff," Kraft Heinz's motion to dismiss says. "Apparently, Plaintiff believes that the purchase price of the product would have been less if the total time from package opening to consumption (perhaps 15-30 seconds longer) had bee reported on the pack instead of the 3 1/2 minute cooking time actually reported.
"Plaintiff's theory of deception stretches the bounds of plausibility well past the breaking point."
The amount of time it takes to complete the extra tasks is truly de minimis, the company says while also arguing it couldn't possibly put an exact time it takes for the macaroni to be completely ready, considering those tasks would take different people different amounts of time to complete.
"Accordingly, Kraft Heinz has no ability to standardize these non-cooking tasks, and reasonable consumers would not expect a food company to even try," the motion says.
The packages don't actually say the macaroni is ready in 3 1/2 minutes from package opening to consumption, Kraft Heinz added.
"(E)ven if 'ready in 3 1/2 minutes' is somehow ambiguous, the preparation directions literally at the consumer's fingertips clearly indicate that the stated time is the cook time only and does not include time estimates for the other steps in the preparation directions," the motion says.
Kraft Heinz is represented by Paige Comparato of King & Spalding in Miami and other lawyers at the firm's office in Los Angeles. The case is in Miami federal court.
Judges are growing increasingly bothered by Sheehan's chosen field of litigation and one recently required a list of all his cases before allowing him to file an amended complaint over mint Trident gum.