Packaged sausage weight includes the skin.
In Münster's Higher Administrative Court, the focus is on sausages once again. The Weights and Measures Office accused a sausage manufacturer of including the sausage casing and clips in the weight of its packaged smear sausage. However, the court's decision went in favor of the manufacturer.
At the lower administrative court, it was decided that the filling quantity of pre-packaged sausages should also include the non-edible casing and clips. This went against the decision made by the Münster Administrative Court, where a company lost its case due to not having enough sausage in the packaging. Despite this, the higher court overturned the sales ban.
During inspections in 2019, the Weights and Measures Office had a problem with the fact that parts of the packaging that weren't edible were counted during filling. They referred to the Food Information Regulation from 2014. However, the OVG ruled that they were wrong. The Senate granted permission for an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, citing its significant importance (Ref.: 4 A 779/23).
The OVG overturned the ban at the Weights and Measures Office since they claimed a European law directive from 1976 was still relevant. This directive states that the filling quantity is the actual amount of product contained in the pre-packaging. If this were interpreted differently, it would make it impossible to sell the product at a meat counter, according to the OVG.
The Weights and Measures Office claimed the company had lost two grams
The Weights and Measures Office maintained that the term "filling quantity" only referred to pure sausage. They found two products to have a sausage weight that was 2.3 and 2.6 grams lower than the stated content. The Warendorf district-based production company argued that the 130 grams mentioned on the packaging was achieved with the casing and clips. The OVG stated in its decision that the Food Information Regulation in effect since 2014 hadn't changed the previous legal situation regarding the determination of the filling quantity of pre-packaged food and pre-packaged food. According to the 1976 EEC Directive, the filling quantity is the amount of product contained in the pre-packaging.
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In light of the ongoing dispute, some critics argue that the judicial decisions favoring the meat industry may lead to questionable practices in measuring sausage weights. Furthermore, these judgments could potentially impact consumer confidence in the meat industry's transparency.
Source: www.ntv.de
