North Rhine-Westphalia: Misleading designation "poultry salami" with pork bacon

Münster (dpa / lnw) - The term "poultry salami" on a product sold nationwide in retail outlets is misleading if the sausage also contains pork bacon.

North Rhine-Westphalia: Misleading designation "poultry salami" with pork bacon

Münster (dpa / lnw) - The term "poultry salami" on a product sold nationwide in retail outlets is misleading if the sausage also contains pork bacon. This was announced by the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG) on Tuesday. The decision of August 15 is not contestable (Ref.: 9 A 517/20).

The manufacturing company from the Gütersloh district labeled the sausage packaging on the back with the words "poultry salami" in bold type and below it in smaller type "with pork bacon". The ingredients list states that 124 grams of turkey and 13 grams of bacon are used to produce 100 grams of salami. By removing moisture, the product ends up losing weight.

The district of Gütersloh, as the authority responsible for food monitoring, saw this as a violation of the Food Information Ordinance. Both the Minden Administrative Court and the Higher Administrative Court in Münster agreed with the authority's assessment.

The company had appealed against the authorities' decision on the grounds that pork bacon is not meat, but a technologically required source of fat that consumers expect as an ingredient in salami.

The Higher Administrative Court did not follow this and rejected an application for admission of the appeal. The statement "poultry salami" gives the consumer the wrong impression that the salami contains only poultry and no pork. And the consumer's expectations relate to all parts of the pig. This impression is not corrected by the information on the back. The front is crucial.