Dumpling scandal

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The eponymous Jiǎozi , succinctly Austrian "dumplings"

Pastry bag scandal (also: dim sum crisis , pastry bag mafia , pastry bag network and similar names) is the term used in the media for a food scandal that became public in Austria in 2019 . In private apartments in Vienna , the police came across a network of illegal production facilities for Chinese food. The workers there produced large quantities of dim sum by hand, including the eponymous dumplings ( Jiǎozi ). Literally translated, “Dim Sum” means “to touch the heart” - in the sense of “small tidbits that touch the heart”. Since the companies were not registered, consequently did not pay taxes, the employees were illegally employed and the circumstances of the production violated the principles of food safety , extensive investigations by the police and the Vienna Market Office were carried out, in the course of which 13 illegal production sites and two sales sites were discovered were. The cause generated a lot of media interest.

development

The financial police had already come across an illegal production facility for Chinese food in 2014, but only one find at the end of July 2019 had serious consequences. After an anonymous complaint, the investigators came across a large number of refrigerators and freezers in a private apartment in the Favoriten district , which were filled to the brim with dumplings and raw ingredients were. The six Chinese citizens found there stated that they had produced for their own family needs, which the investigators did not consider to be credible due to the amount. Instead, it was assumed that restaurants and Asian supermarkets were supplied in this way on a large scale with products that could hardly be made by machine. In the following two weeks two more such production facilities were discovered, so that the suspicion arose that it was a common practice. The responsible Viennese market office provided 45 inspectors to check all 535 Asian pubs and Asian supermarkets in the city. By the end of October 2019, a total of five production sites for different types of dim sum had become known. In March 2020, the financial police announced that 11 "dumpling factories" had been found in the previous year. In the course of the ongoing investigation, this number grew to 13 in the summer of 2020.

backgrounds

According to the Vienna Market Office, the production of food for private consumption is permitted. However, regular production without a trade license, but with the intention of making a profit, is illegal. The reason why restaurants or takeaways knowingly resort to goods produced in this way instead of producing them themselves is their lower price. Contrary to what is sometimes formulated in the media, the individual production facilities are not part of a centrally organized, “ mafia-like ” network. According to a senior officer at the Federal Criminal Police Office, it is “simply the Chinese way of doing business. You don't know that with permits ”. Consequently, the awareness of injustice is also rather low.

In the media, a restrictive immigration policy was sometimes cited as one of the reasons for the emergence of the secret dumpling factories. There are simply not enough trained cooks in Austria who can meet the demand. An agreement between Austria and China signed in 2018 in this regard did not come into force until the second half of 2019, so it was not able to remedy the situation quickly enough.

Immediate effects

The investigations resulted in numerous reports of violations of the Aliens Employment Act, of wage and social dumping or of people who were not correctly registered for social security. Tax audits were initiated at the companies involved. Other violations concerned hygiene at the production sites. Although it was emphasized that the products were basically edible, the circumstances in which they were manufactured did not meet the legal standards. In the course of the 2019 raids, 3.95 tons of ingredients and finished products were confiscated. The confiscated goods were cremated in the municipal animal carcass recycling facility.

At the beginning of the investigation, there was also a suspicion of a connection with human trafficking and smuggling . However, this was not confirmed. The controlled restaurant operators felt they were being treated unfairly by the general suspicion to which they were exposed by the market office. They expressed the assumption that the goods would have been produced for private households rather than for gastronomy. According to the Vienna Market Office, the sale of illegally produced food “in 10 to 15 restaurants” could be specifically proven. The resulting administrative fines would have cost the restaurants several thousand euros. So far there have been no legal proceedings because the goods are not harmful to health. The police also stressed that illegal work and unsanitary conditions are not the rule in Chinese restaurants. These would work cleaner than is generally assumed.

reception

The dumplings scandal had started in the middle of the summer slump in the media and soon attracted a lot of attention due to the steadily increasing number of production sites found and the resulting new press releases. The bureaucratic seriousness with which the producers, who were often perceived as harmless, were dealt with generated some ridicule in Austria and neighboring countries. This was reinforced by the fact that the republic was meanwhile confronted with far greater scandals due to the Ibiza affair and its consequences.

In addition, the question arose whether such networks only existed in Vienna or if something like that existed in every large city. At the same time, the scope of the network found drew attention to the problem of illegal employment of migrants under unworthy conditions. The Chinese society of Vienna, which otherwise remained rather hidden, was anchored much more firmly in the public consciousness than had been the case until then.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Dim Sum Crisis. In: derstandard.de. August 1, 2019, accessed July 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b Under the radar: Vienna's Chinese community apart from the dumpling mafia - derStandard.at. December 15, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Illegal dumplings - and the possible network behind them - derStandard.at. August 13, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Criminally delicious: The variety of Chinese dumplings - derStandard.at. August 2, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Illegal production facility for Asian snack bars discovered. In: wien.orf.at. July 2, 2020, accessed July 2, 2020 .
  6. ^ First success with Viennese dumplings search - derStandard.at. August 1, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  7. ^ Illegal dumpling factory dug up. In: wien.orf.at. July 29, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  8. ^ Dumplings raid: Market office found what they were looking for in five businesses. In: kurier.at. August 2, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Other illegal dumplings production sites discovered in Vienna - derStandard.at. March 9, 2020, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b Süddeutsche Zeitung: Illegale dumplings factory: "Horrible and dirty". In: sueddeutsche.de. July 1, 2020, accessed July 3, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b c Dumpling factory and red light studio: Crime "made in China". In: kurier.at. August 18, 2019, accessed July 3, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Why Austria is running out of Chinese cooks. In: diepresse.com. May 15, 2018, accessed July 1, 2020 .
  13. ↑ This is how Austria's Chinese cuisine should be saved. In: diepresse.com. September 9, 2019, accessed July 1, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b Teigtascherl-balance sheet: 11 illegal factories discovered in Vienna. In: diepresse.com. March 9, 2020, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  15. ↑ a b Austria: The dark story behind the "Teigtascherl scandal". In: web.de. September 10, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Dumplings in the sights: Asian hosts "treated like criminals". In: kurier.at. August 1, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  17. ↑ 79,000 calories in one day: the dumpling inspector brought to the AKH. In: The daily press (satirical newspaper). August 2, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  18. ^ Humbug of the week - "Dimsum crisis" in Vienna. In: kochgenossen.com. August 3, 2019, accessed July 1, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Acute supply problems: Dumpling dealers are switching to Carinthian cheese noodles. In: The daily press (satirical newspaper). August 29, 2019, accessed July 3, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Paul Jandl: Chinese dumplings plunge Vienna into crisis. In: nzz.ch. August 16, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  21. ^ Illegal production Vienna has its dumplings scandal. In: faz.net. August 29, 2019, accessed June 30, 2020 .
  22. ↑ When the Far East meets Vienna: The Austro-Chinese community. In: kurier.at. August 18, 2019, accessed July 3, 2020 .