PLB American Italian Pasta

Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP ("Lerach Coughlin") (http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/aipc/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri on behalf of purchasers of American Italian Pasta Company ("AIPC") (NYSE:PLB) common stock during the period between October 4, 2000 and August 9, 2005 (the "Class Period"). If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from August 12, 2005. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, William Lerach or Darren Robbins of Lerach Coughlin at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at wsl@lerachlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/aipc/. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. The complaint charges AIPC and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. AIPC engages in the production and marketing of dry pasta in North America. The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants caused AIPC's shares to trade at artificially inflated levels by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's financial statements, business and prospects. This caused the Company's stock to trade as high as $51.78 per share during the Class Period and allowed defendants to sell 551,888 shares of their AIPC stock at artificially inflated prices for proceeds of $19.4 million. Then, on August 9, 2005, the Company issued a press release announcing that it was "delaying the release of its full financial results for the third fiscal quarter ended July 1, 2005, and is also delaying the filing of its third quarter Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company stated that its Audit Committee is conducting an internal investigation of certain accounting procedures and practices and certain other matters. The Company also outlined impairment charges and other financial statement adjustments that will be recorded and provided an overview of its business results for the third quarter." On this news, AIPC's stock collapsed to as low as $13.10 per share before closing at $13.28 per share on volume of 4.7 million shares. According to the complaint, the true facts, which were known by each of the defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period, were as follows: (a) the Company lacked requisite internal controls, and, as a result, the Company's projections and reported results were based upon defective assumptions and/or manipulated facts; (b) contrary to defendants' claims of fiscal 2005 profitability, the Company was actually on track to report losses; (c) the Company lacked the necessary personnel to issue accurate financial reports and projections; (d) the Company's financial statements were presented in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; and (e) as a result of the above, the Company's projections for fiscal year 2005 were grossly inflated. Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of AIPC common stock during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Lerach Coughlin, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud. Lerach Coughlin, a 150-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Houston, Philadelphia and Seattle, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. Lerach Coughlin lawyers have been responsible for more than $20 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Lerach Coughlin Web site (http://www.lerachlaw.com) has more information about the firm.