Laboratory studies: Federal association warns of control gaps in restaurants

Potsdam. Food control employees defend a uniform risk assessment for controls throughout Germany. From her point of view, it has proven useful if the same criteria are used in all federal states, said the President of the Federal Association of Food Chemists in the Public Service, Birgit Bienzle. It is important that, for example, “not a snack bar in Brandenburg has a completely different control frequency than a snack bar in Baden-Württemberg”.

If requirements for risk assessment of companies and sample planning are deleted, it is to be feared that the quality and quantity of controls in restaurants and pubs, for example, will suffer, said Bienzle - and warns: The standards for consumer health protection should not be lowered in view of the budgetary problems in many districts.

The Federal Association of Food Chemists is meeting in Potsdam until Sunday under the title “Slim State – a Challenge for Food Safety”. The background is that Brandenburg is chairing the consumer protection ministerial conference this year.