A federal US judge this week ruled that the class action lawsuit against Barilla, the world’s largest pasta manufacturer, can go to trial.

The lawsuit alleges that Barilla’s ad campaign, as well as its use of the Italian flag’s colours on their packaging, is misleading US customers that all of the products it sells there are “authentic pastas from Italy … and manufactured in Italy”, CNN Business reports.

The plaintiffs say they suffered “economic injury” as they would have otherwise bought other, cheaper US-made products.

Barilla was founded in Parma, Italy in 1877 and opened US manufacturing bases in Iowa and New York in the 1990s and 2000s. The US operation uses the same machines, recipe and wheat blend as its headquarters in Parma, according to its website.