Italian chef furious at Woolworths over ‘glaring’ issue with popular penne pasta
An Italian chef has criticized Woolworths for ‘misleading’ customers after discovering mislabelled pasta packs on shelves.
Vincenzo, head of the YouTube channel Vincenzo’s Plate, was furious when he saw packets of rigatoni pasta marked penne.
The label, which was likely a one-off packaging mistake by Woolworths, angered the passionate Italian chef, who took to social media to express his frustrations.
‘Can you please help me here? I can’t believe this Australian supermarket sells rigatoni pasta as penne. This is false advertising and does not teach the younger generations,” he wrote.
“It could be a labeling problem, I really hope it is and they are not trying to anger the Italians,” he added.
Italian chef Vincenzo, who lives in Sydney, was furious when he saw packets of rigatoni pasta packaged and labeled as penne at Woolworths (pictured)
While the difference may be subtle and unnoticeable to some Aussies, the mistake angered the passionate Italian chef, who took to social media to express his frustrations.
When comparing the two different types of pasta, rigatoni is larger in size and has a straight edge while penne is thinner and the edges are cut diagonally.
There’s also little difference in price: the Woolworths Essentials penne costs 90 cents per pack and the rigatoni costs $1 per pack.
More than 5,100 people liked the Facebook post, many of whom thought Vincenzo’s comment was funny.
‘I loved it! Finally cheaper rigatoni!’ one wrote, the other said, “I mean, there could be much worse things.”
Explained below: ‘Australian Pasta,’ said a third, commenting on the ad.
However, others pointed out that it probably would have been a labeling error or problem.
“I feel like this is a labeling issue! I haven’t seen it before,” one woman wrote and Vincenzo said: “It could be, I really hope it is and they are not trying to anger the Italians.”
A spokesperson for Woolworths told FEMAIL the error was a ‘one off’ event.
‘We don’t know how this one got past us! We apologize for this error, which appears to be a one-time incident and we are currently investigating with our supplier,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this month, an Italian tourist was shocked by what she found when she visited an Australian supermarket for the first time. Sofia Saccone stopped by a local Woolworths store on the Gold Coast and criticized some of the ‘terrible’ products on the shelves.
Earlier this month, an Italian tourist was shocked by what she found when she visited an Australian supermarket for the first time.
Sofia Saccone stopped by a local Woolworths store on the Gold Coast and criticized some of the ‘appalling’ products on the shelves.
From SPC tomato and cheese spaghetti to Heinz spaghetti with meatballs, Ms Saccone said these were ‘Australian buys that would put an Italian in a coma’.
In a TikTok video she held each product up to the camera and explained why she rejected it.
Holding a four-pack of SPC spaghetti in her hands, Mrs. Saccone said, “This is so bad, I can’t even explain how bad it is.”
She was disgusted that the canned Heinz spaghetti was depicted on the can as served on a piece of sliced bread.
Mozzarella and pasta from supermarket brands also received her contempt.
‘If you are an Italian living in Australia, never try the Woolies or Coles pasta. This is terrible,” she said, recommending “spend a little more” on alternative pasta.
Mrs. Saccone described Continental Alfredo and Kraft Mac & Cheese as “so bad” and would never buy it.
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