Marketed as ‘Italy’s #1 pasta brand’, Barilla sued because the product was not made in Italy
Billed as “Italy’s number one pasta brand,” popular brand Barilla will face lawsuits for allegedly misleading consumers into believing that products made in Iowa and New York are actually imported. produced in Italy.
A federal judge on Monday rejected Barilla’s request to dismiss a class-action lawsuit alleging the company misrepresented its products. Judge Donna Ryu found that the company’s phrase, “Italy’s No. 1 pasta brand”, could mislead consumers that pasta was made in Italy. Barilla also features the green, red and white colors of the Italian flag on the signature blue boxes.
In addition to asking the court to stop Barilla from using an Italian likeness in marketing and on products, the plaintiffs are seeking monetary compensation, alleging that they paid too much for the pasta.
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Barilla originated as a bread and pasta shop in Italy but is now based in Illinois. Barilla argues that their trademark is used to “evoke the company’s Italian roots through overall representations of the brand as a whole,” not to mislead buyers.
The judge’s decision comes after a similar lawsuit was filed against Texas Pete’s sauce makers after a California man learned product is not actually made in Texas.
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What does the petition claim?
In their original complaint, Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost said that because of the company’s way of advertising their products, they purchased multiple boxes of Barilla and Angel hair pasta in the belief that the pasta was made in Italy. with ingredients from Italy.
The complaint states that Barilla does not exclusively use Italian wheat in its products and exploits consumers who are willing to pay more for authentic pasta. The company is accused of using deceptive advertising and marketing to collect more fees and increase profits.
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The plaintiffs also allege that Barilla has an unfair advantage over “legitimately operating competitors” at the expense of “unintentional consumers”.
Barilla did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
Camille Fine is the trending image maker in the USA TODAY group.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Barilla pasta sued because the product was made in the US, not Italy
