Chemicals in wine: This is how bold the first German wine scandal was

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Cloudy Wednesday, February 19, 1958, was accompanied by intermittent sleet. The scene of the first German wine scandal was the district court of Wiesbaden, about 35 kilometers west of Frankfurt. The decision in the Valentin Korn (†1980) case is eagerly awaited. Serious charge: massive adulteration of wine.

As “WDR” reported, it all started with an extremely severe hangover after drinking wine, and more and more people complained about it. The road led to German wine merchant Valentin Korn. He was accused of producing and selling up to three million liters of wine adulterated with chemicals.

Massive manipulation

Over a four-year period Korn supplied large quantities of, among other things, citric acid, glycerin and ammonium phosphate. The basis of his adulterated nightmare was the foreign base wine, which Korn first diluted with water. Various additives were added in the second stage to prevent dilution of color, flavors and other ingredients.

From today’s perspective, the two and a half year prison sentence handed down by the Wiesbaden Regional Court was relatively lenient. In the end, Korn did not even have to serve the full sentence and was released the following year. However, Korn, which was banned from making any kind of beverage for five years, devoted itself to egg production and manufacturing.

Source : Blick