New York
CNN Business
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Barilla can’t avoid a class-action lawsuit over alleged deceptive ads about the origins of the pasta, a federal judge ruled this week.
The subject of contention is the brand’s slogan “the No. 1 brand of pasta in Italy,” which the lawsuit says could lead customers to believe it’s actually made in Italy. Customers who filed the lawsuit last year, Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost, said they bought several boxes of Barilla pasta thinking they were made in Italy.
They also said that Barilla distorts its Italian origin because it uses the colors of the Italian flag, “perpetuating the idea that the products are authentic pasta from Italy.” They also say that with Barilla’s ad campaign because she positions it “as authentic, authentic Italian pasta – made from ingredients sourced in Italy (like durum wheat), and made in Italy”, when it isn’t.
However, as stated on Barilla’s website, it is not. The pasta is made in Iowa and New York, using the same machinery used in its factory in Parma, Italy. Barilla was founded in 1877 in a small Italian town and has grown as an “international group present in more than 100 countries.”
A judge ruled this week that the couple had suffered “economic damage” and provided sufficient evidence that they would not buy Barilla if they knew it was not made in Italy. A can of Barilla can cost twice as much as a private label.
Barilla did not immediately respond to CNN Business’s request for comment.
Originally published at San Jose News Bulletin
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