Food Ministry declares war on restaurants shrimping on portions

Joachim B. Olsen from Liberal Alliance is furious over the micromanaging tactics employed by the ministry

The Food Ministry's legal team has upheld a decision by the food authorities, fødevarekontrollen, which ruled that a restaurant owner broke the law by not putting enough prawns in a prawn sandwich, according to Metroxpress newspaper.

After receiving a complaint from a member of the public that the restaurant did not serve enough prawns in its sandwiches, fødevarekontrollen showed up and found that the sandwiches only used 36 grams of prawns when the recipe called for 50 grams.

“We put emphasis on that when the product picture states: ‘Prawn sandwich with egg’, the consumer expects a prevailing amount of the bread topping to consist of prawns,” fødevarekontrollen ruled.

READ MORE: Chinese to chomp on Danish wieners

Angry opposition
The restaurant owner received an injunction for cheating, which he then unsuccessfully appealed to the Food Ministry.

 Joachim B Olsen from Liberal Alliance condemned the micromanaging style of the ministry and called for its legal and inspection teams to be sacked.

”In this case, the ’baby-sitting service’ has abused the tax-payers’ money to carry out a ridiculous and determined harassment of business owners,” Olsen said. “If customers are lacking prawns, they can eat somewhere else.”

Dan Jørgensen, the food products minister, declined to comment.





  • How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    How internationals can benefit from joining trade unions

    Being part of a trade union is a long-established norm for Danes. But many internationals do not join unions – instead enduring workers’ rights violations. Find out how joining a union could benefit you, and how to go about it.

  • Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals in Denmark rarely join a trade union

    Internationals are overrepresented in the lowest-paid fields of agriculture, transport, cleaning, hotels and restaurants, and construction – industries that classically lack collective agreements. A new analysis from the Workers’ Union’s Business Council suggests that internationals rarely join trade unions – but if they did, it would generate better industry standards.

  • Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    Novo Nordisk overtakes LEGO as the most desirable future workplace amongst university students

    The numbers are especially striking amongst the 3,477 business and economics students polled, of whom 31 percent elected Novo Nordisk as their favorite, compared with 20 percent last year.