Hobby hunter convicted of meat fraud

The public prosecutor's office of the Canton of St. Gallen has convicted a 40-year-old Swiss hobby hunter from the Metzger butcher's shop in Toggenburg with a suspended fine and a penalty, because he mislabelled meat.

The penalty order is legally binding.

Lamb meat labelled as game

The Office for Consumer Protection and Veterinary Affairs (AVSV) of the Canton of St. Gallen filed a complaint with the St. Gallen public prosecutor's office after a consumer tip-off and subsequent inspections at a butcher's shop in Toggenburg revealed irregularities in meat labelling. There was suspicion that lamb meat had been labelled and sold as locally sourced game. The public prosecutor's office therefore instructed the St. Gallen cantonal police, in cooperation with AVSV specialists, to carry out searches at the premises of the butcher's shop in question as well as at the restaurants supplied by it.

The investigation by the public prosecutor's office, in cooperation with the St. Gallen cantonal police and the AVSV, has been concluded. It was established that samples of the game pepper stew from the autumn 2015 season did not contain only the meat declared on the packaging. It was further proven that between July 2014 and November 2015, imported meat was sold that had been labelled as Swiss meat. Through the false labelling, customers were misled about the contents and origin of the products.

Suspended fine and penalty of 8’000 francs

On January 9, 2018, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of St. Gallen issued a penalty order against the responsible 40-year-old Swiss meat specialist for multiple violations of the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UCA), multiple intentional contraventions, and negligent contravention of the Federal Act on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles (LMG). He was sentenced to a conditional fine of 120 daily penalty units of CHF 100.00 each. He does not have to pay this fine provided he does not reoffend within the next two years. However, he is required to pay a fine of CHF 8’000 as well as the procedural costs. The penalty order is legally binding.

Hobby hunter and butcher rolled into one

In addition to its own broad range of meat and sausage products as well as Toggenburg specialties, Metzger Butcher Shop also offers particularly delicious hunting specialties. Managing director Philipp Metzger is himself an enthusiastic hobby hunter. He has held a hunting license for more than 15 years and has long been a member of the Jagdgesellschaft Stein, the town where he grew up. The specialties, some of which are only available seasonally, proudly bear the label “from our own hunt.” Just as with the animals in the general assortment, Philipp Metzger's relationship with wild animals is also characterized by “respect for living creatures,” as stated on the homepage of Metzger Butcher Shop… More on Crime and hobby hunting.