Listeria in smoked fish – Thurgau public prosecutor’s office investigates negligent homicide – News

  • Listeria cases occurred in a Thurgau fish smokehouse in the summer.
  • The Federal Office of Public Health BAG was able to assign twenty cases of illness to the incident. According to the BAG, the disease was “most likely” fatal for an affected person.
  • The public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Thurgau is investigating negligent homicide.

Various products from a Thurgau fish farm had to be recalled last summer. Listeria was found in the smoked fish. The result: sick people and most likely a death, as the Federal Office of Public Health announced in its weekly bulletin these days.

possible connection


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The BAG explained that it could be said with a high degree of probability that the illness of the deceased person was related to the consumption of the trout in question. However, one cannot comment on the question of what exactly the cause of death was or the likelihood of a connection with Listeria, since the BAG has no information on this.

The public prosecutor’s office, which is investigating the case, the competent office of the canton of Thurgau and also the affected fish farm, did not know anything about the possible death until a few days ago. The Thurgau public prosecutor’s office is now expanding its investigation, as it informed Radio SRF’s “Regionaljournal Ostschweiz” on request.

Investigation into involuntary manslaughter

The public prosecutor’s office learned from the media that eating the bacterially contaminated fish could have caused a death, said media spokesman Fabian Mörtl. The investigation would now also include the allegation of negligent homicide. The expanded investigation would give the investigation “an additional dimension and also a different weight”.

lawsuit filed

At the beginning of July 2022, an unusually high number of listeriosis cases was reported, according to the BAG. The trail led to a fish smokehouse in the canton of Thurgau. The Thurgau food control checked the company and discovered listeria in smoked trout, according to information from the BAG. This confirmed the cause of the outbreak.

The products were then recalled. The cantonal laboratory filed a criminal complaint against the company. It’s about offenses against the food law, says Fabian Mörtl, media spokesman for the Thurgau public prosecutor’s office.

Fixed contamination


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After production was stopped, the products recalled and consumers informed, the fish farm, together with the authorities, initiated various measures to solve the problem. He behaved “exemplarily”, says the Thurgau canton chemist Christoph Spinner.

In the autumn, the fish farm managed to completely renovate. The authorities gave the green light for the smoked fish products. The BAG announced that the contamination had now been resolved and that there was no longer any risk to public health.

After the outbreak in the summer, the Thurgau company identified the cause of the contamination and then rectified it. The BAG then released the fish smokehouse to production again.

Information about possible death

Why didn’t the BAG inform anyone that someone could have died because of Listeria? On request, it is said that due to data protection, the BAG does not forward any clinical information on individual cases, such as death, to companies and the cantonal laboratory. The publication has only now taken place after all the information could have been gathered.

At the fish farm, on the advice of his lawyer, the boss is not giving an interview for the time being. However, he will communicate actively and transparently as soon as he receives more information about the death and the criminal investigation.

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