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14.06.2024 - Foods

Verdict: Inedible sausage casings count towards the net filling quantity

The Higher Administrative Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia decided on May 24, 2024, in the second instance that inedible sausage clips and inedible sausage casings are part of the net weight of a food. This changed the initial court ruling.

The underlying facts are as follows:

The weights and measures authorities criticized the plaintiff manufacturer of sausages for considering sausage casings and clips, which are not consumed, as tare and not to be included in the net filling quantity. In the first instance, the Administrative Court of Münster sided with the weights and measures authorities, concluding that sausage clips and inedible sausage casings are not part of the "net filling quantity of the food."

Now, the Higher Administrative Court NRW has changed this initial court ruling and decided that inedible sausage clips and inedible sausage casings are also part of the net weight of a food. The OVG NRW justified its decision by stating, among other things, that sausages are only considered prepackaged when they are to be given to (end) consumers with an enclosing of any kind (prepackaging). Only with this understanding can wrapped sausages continue to be offered for weighing at the meat counter without specifying the nominal filling quantity.

The OVG NRW has allowed the revision to the Federal Administrative Court, so a third decision on this subject may occur.

For further information, please refer to the following links: https://www.cibus-recht.de/tara-oder-nicht-tara-das-ist-hier-die-frage-der-zweite-akt/ 

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Source: https://www.cibus-recht.de/