Food Surveillance Data 2016 Released

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Dec 28, 2017 - Foods

Food Surveillance Data 2016 Released

Under the Nationwide Surveillance Plan, the implementation of official controls is understood to verify compliance with food law, wine law, and tobacco law regulations. The main tasks of food supervision formulated therein lie in the control of businesses that produce, process, transport, or handle food as well as in the examination of collected food samples. The data from the food monitoring authorities are recorded and evaluated annually by the BVL (Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety).

In 2016, approximately 516,000 business inspections were carried out by the official food supervision. Thus, 42.6% of all registered businesses were inspected, primarily those in the catering sector. The number of detected violations is about 23%, roughly on par with previous years.

The complaint rate from business inspections was the highest for retailers such as bakeries or butcheries and catering businesses. The three main reasons for complaints were operational hygiene (49.1%), hygiene management (21.5%), and food labeling (24.5%).

Of the samples examined, a total of 12.1% were objected to. The complaints mainly affected alcoholic beverages, foods for special dietary requirements, ready meals, and meat/game/poultry. The main reasons for complaints were labeling errors (58.7%), microbiological (15.9%), and other contaminants such as foreign bodies (7.3%).

We conduct routine microbiological examinations, site inspections, and labeling checks for you. For more information, feel free to contact your customer service representative.

Source: www.bvl.bund.de