As the earth’s atmosphere boils with our life and World War III draws ever closer to horrifying reality, a New York City man is suing a respectable local purveyor via “5 Cheese Ravioli,” which he says contains only four cheeses.
Arnold Wachtel, 62, said Ottomanelli Bros. Inc. committed fraud, negligence, false advertising and “deceptive practices” in the marketing of the product were actually five cheeses.
The ingredients on the box lose the game, fooling consumers who trust the front of the packaging but may not take the time to read the back, Wachtel argued in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the New York State Supreme Court,
“Ravioli ingredient list reflects only four cheese: 1) Ricotta, 2) Pecorino romano, 3) Mozzarella and 4) Parmesan,” the lawsuit states.
However, Ottomanelli’s duplication goes further, shortening the public to just four individual ravioli, rather than the five stated on the packaging, Wachtel argues.
“The phrase ‘5 cheese ravioli’ placed above the image of five ravioli breads, together with the defendant’s intentional omitting the hyphen between ‘5’ and ‘Cheese’, implies rational consumers that defendant included five ravioli sandwiches in packages similar to those purchased by Plaintiff, the lawsuit says. “A hyphen would be required to modify (i.e., compound modifier) ’Ravioli’ to act as an adjective if the defendant(s) meant the amount of cheese in the ravioli.”
Wachtel claims there are only four ravioli in each box, not the five listed on the packaging.
New York State Supreme Court
Wachtel told The Daily Beast that he first suspected he was being scammed about 12 months ago, thinking to himself “maybe it was false advertising”.
“The issue was initially the quantity of ravioli, but then we realized that there were actually not five types of cheese in the ravioli,” says Jesse Langel, a lawyer for Wachtel, who considers himself “a brand of heat food. love, consumer products attorney,” added, “If you call it ‘five cheeses,’ you must have five cheeses. How can you ask for five cheeses, when there are only four?”
Reached by phone, Frank Ottomanelli, whose grandfather started Ottomanelli Bros. in 1900, expressed disbelief in the details contained in Wachtel’s lawsuit.
“Do people really event for these things? Well, he told The Daily Beast. “You can’t make this up.”
In his lawsuit, Wachtel – who owns a pair of novelty and gag shops in Times Square, Happy shop and funny shopback before Disneyfication of the region—claims that he bought about 20 boxes of 5 Ottomanelli Cheese Ravioli in the past year, with prices ranging from $6.99 to $7.49.
“[T]the plaintiff has suffered monetary damages (overpayment due to higher prices due to miscommunication, time and effort spent) and non-monetary damages, including frustration, disappointment, erosion of trust and dietary concerns,” the lawsuit states.
In addition to Ottomanelli Bros., Wachtel’s lawsuit names a “John Doe” who “is currently unidentified but is believed to be an employee or representative of an advertising agency that was involved in the creation and development of a fraudulent trademark.” island.”
According to Lengel, Wachtel was “just annoyed” by what he saw as gross misrepresentation, who said he “felt the need to address the issue because Mr. Wachtel felt very strongly about it.” After conducting a series of informal focus groups to gather reactions from others about the veracity of the five cheese claims, Lengel felt the case was ready.
“The problem is with advertising, you have to communicate the truth,” said Lengel, adding that Ottomanelli will now have a chance to defend himself against Wachtel’s claims. “These are just accusations, this is not a finding of liability.”
Wachtel, who currently runs a business help New York City residents get a pistol licenseis claiming $50,000 in damages, plus interest and expenses.
He told The Daily Beast: “I would like to see the packaging changed to reflect exactly what consumers get for the money they spend.
In 2008, Wachtel sued NYPD for wrongful arrest after a group of detectives locked him up for allegedly selling a fake ID of the Funny Store. (The case was later settled out of court.) In 2017, Wachtel sued a Manhattan restaurant, claimed that he had bitten a pebble that got into his bowl of bulgur wheat. (The case was settled the following year.)
Lengel knows that some might view the ravioli case as “trivial or innocuous,” but said he believes Wachtel’s challenge “is necessary to ensure a fair market and correct mistakes.” .”
In the end, however, it is possible that Ottomanelli Bros. is the winner. Reached by phone, CEO Nick Ottomanelli at first told The Daily Beast he was unaware a lawsuit had been filed and said he needed to contact “the guy in the prepared foods department.” ” to find the answer. An hour later, he called back and pointed to the fifth cheese listed in the cheese Ravioli’s 5 ingredients, which Wachtel didn’t seem to notice: imprint, a slightly sweet form of ricotta commonly used in cannabis. Ottomanelli did not address the issue of four pieces of ravioli versus five.
A missing comma in the ingredients list can create a new curve in the proceedings.
New York State Supreme Court
However, there is a comma missing between the previous ingredient listed, egg and impastata, which Lengel correctly pointed out.
“To what extent the comma omission was by mistake or intentional, and whether that clarifies the message to a reasonable consumer are open issues,” he said.
Ottomanelli Bros. opened in 1900 like a little butcher shop in the West Village. Over the years it has expanded and contracted with time, at one point operating a number of markets and cafes around New York, including a inside the flagship store of Macy’s Herald Square. Today, Ottomanelli brothers. has a storefront on the Upper East Side, with a wide variety of sauces, condiments, pastas and prepared foods available in regional supermarkets.
