Food monitoring

Hygiene is the top priority when handling food! Carelessness in this area can lead to serious infectious diseases (e.g. salmonella infections), which can be life-threatening, especially for small children or elderly people. A very large group of people can also quickly be affected by an infection.

Hygiene regulations apply to anyone who produces, manufactures, handles or places food on the market (e.g. dairy farmers, butchers, restaurants, food shops, but also, for example, a petrol station that sells food). Anyone who produces, handles or places food on the market is responsible for complying with the provisions of food law. They are obliged to carry out regular in-house hygiene checks. Only people who have been trained in food hygiene may be employed.

Particularly strict hygiene regulations must be observed when handling unpackaged and freshly prepared food. Pathogens can, for example, multiply very easily in meat, dairy products, eggs, ice cream, deli salads, mayonnaise, sauces, fish or in baked goods with an undercooked filling (e.g. cream cakes).

If, as a consumer, you have any doubts in specific situations (e.g. in a food shop, at a street festival or in a restaurant) as to whether hygiene standards are being met, or if you experience health problems after eating a particular food, you can contact the food safety authority. You can find out more about this topic in the service description ‘Food Safety Inspection – Consumer Complaints’.

What does the food safety authority do?

The main task of food safety inspection is to monitor premises that produce, handle or place food on the market. These include, for example, restaurants, snack bars, cafés, ice-cream parlours, hotel kitchens, canteens, bakeries and butchers. However, care homes, nurseries, schools, retail outlets, petrol stations and public events such as livestock markets are also included. Businesses that manufacture, handle or place on the market cosmetic products, consumer goods (such as crockery, toys and clothing) and tobacco products are also subject to monitoring.

In addition to general hygiene and the structural condition of the premises, the inspections also cover staff and production hygiene, compliance with temperature requirements, traceability and pest management. In this context, the examination of documentation also plays a major role. Particular attention must be paid to the businesses’ own internal controls, and labelling – such as labels and menus – must also be checked. For example, checks are carried out to ensure that the products on offer are genuinely cooked ham, cheese or juice, and that they are correctly labelled. It may happen, for example, that a product advertised on the menu as ‘cooked ham’ is in fact a ‘moulded meat product’. Whilst this would not pose a health risk, it would constitute misleading labelling.

Other duties include:

• Sampling of official samples of foodstuffs, cosmetic products, consumer goods and tobacco products. These are product samples that are either taken as part of a scheduled sampling plan or are taken on the basis of suspicion or for the purposes of investigation.
• Receiving consumer complaints and, where appropriate, samples relating to such complaints
• Monitoring and initiating product recalls
• Responses to consumer enquiries
• Advice for business owners. If, for example, you are planning to open a snack bar, we have put together some information sheets here. We are also happy to offer advice.