The Hessian Consumer Protection Minister Priska Hinz (Die Grünen) is defending herself against new allegations by the opposition regarding her behavior in the sausage scandal involving Wilke products.

In the competent committee of the state parliament, she confirmed on Wednesday that she wanted to take action against a judgment by the Wiesbaden Administrative Court.

According to this, in autumn 2019, the ministry should have published a list of the places where products from the North Hessian manufacturer were offered, in accordance with the request of the consumer protection organization Foodwatch.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

  • Follow I follow

At that time, Listeria, which can be life-threatening for people with a weak immune system, had been detected in products from the North Hessian company. The case caused a stir across Germany because it was linked to three deaths and 37 cases of illness. Hinz recalled on Wednesday that Foodwatch had failed in October 2019 with an urgent application to the administrative court in Kassel. The administrative court in Wiesbaden decided the opposite. "Now we want to get legal clarification on a further level of how this is going to behave."

As reported, the company had to close at the beginning of October 2019.

The sausage was recalled.

A list of more than 1000 products was also published.

However, this list did not include the sales and delivery points where the goods were offered loose, for example at sausage counters, in old people's homes, clinics and restaurants.

Relevant judgment of the Federal Administrative Court

Because of the particular risk to unborn life and their own health, pregnant women, for example, need to know whether they have received unmarked Wilke products, for example in ready meals, restaurants or canteens, Foodwatch said. The Wiesbaden administrative court now, more than two years after the scandal, basically agrees with this view. The judges cited a relevant decision by the Federal Administrative Court from August 2019. Accordingly, the legal obligation to inform the public includes not only the products themselves, but also their "manufacture, production, storage and delivery".

Hinz said that she did not withhold a list that she had. There are 55,000 data sets from which her house would have had to filter out the required information in weeks of work. There is a risk that publishing names will violate the rights of companies and trigger claims for damages. The consumer protection minister argued that the interests of the owners should be respected.

Torsten Felstehausen, parliamentary director of the left-wing faction, said he was amazed that the minister gave greater weight to economic development than consumer protection. When weighing up, it should not be ignored that there were deaths in the case. Hinz explained that the information requested had "no added value" in practice. Because they always come with a delay of weeks, so that nobody would be helped.

Even the mere mention of a product name is useless.

Because it always depends on the exact batch of the delivery.

The end consumer must therefore ask at the issuing office or have the "identity number" of the goods, according to the minister.

However, she admitted that this could not be expected from residents of a nursing home or patients in a hospital, for example.

Foodwatch demands a "transparency that does not lead to the goal," says Hinz.

In fact, however, it must be about the fast, comprehensive and reliable realization of recalls.

It is important to "quickly check everywhere so that the stuff comes out".

The consumer must be able to rely on that.

Commentary on the topic: Weak protection for consumers