Queen of summer, Merguez is a sausage traditionally without pork. At least that’s what most sellers promise. A test carried out by the RTS, however, reveals the presence of pork in several samples.
Lamb breasts, beef chest, spices, but no pork: this is the classic recipe for merguez swiss made in 2025. Most traders claim to sell sausages without pork, an essential point for those who do not eat, especially for religious patterns or due to allergies. The recipe is not protected, but the law requires communicating to the customer all the species contained in the sausage. Problem: some Merguez sold in French -speaking Switzerland contain pork, as shown in a test of the program “A good hearing”.
Out of ten lots tested, two contained traces of pork and one contained a significant quantity while the sales staff had affirmed the opposite. A sample in which a significant proportion of beef has also been found, without it being indicated to the customer either. In another butcher’s shop, a sausage allegedly pure beef actually contained 30% lamb. Clearly: the consumer does not always know what he swallows.
A recurring problem
The most problematic sample, containing pork and beef, comes from the Nyffeler butcher in Moutier. Sold 3.60 francs sold for 100 grams, these sausages are also the most expensive in the panel. “This pork is something that should not happen in the merguez. Unfortunately, it happened, but it is not in any case to deceive the customer,” said the director of the butcher’s shop, Bastian Nyffeler.
The producer evokes two tracks: either an error during manufacture or a problem in a supplier. “We order our lamb meat at a supplier, sometimes imported lamb meat. Maybe pork has been found in this meat to be made.” In terms of the presence of beef in his sausages, the craftsman affirms that this is an error of the sales staff when informing the customer.
The other non -compliant lot of the selection was bought in Souk Sion. Merguez allegedly pure beef, but cut with lamb meat. Contacted, the butcher’s shop indicates that the results actually correspond to its recipe and estimates that the mesinformation comes from the sales staff, who would have “given bad information”.
Inaccurate composition declarations are a recurring problem in the merguez. Already in 2018, the RTS had conducted the investigation. Of the 15 lots bought at the time, 6 contained pork or other species of meat in their composition.
Alexandre Willemin
