Food monitoring

Food businesses are obliged to register and report any significant relevant changes. This applies to all businesses involved in the processing, production or distribution of food, regardless of whether they are profit-orientated or not.

Please complete the form and send it to the Veterinary and Consumer Health Protection Department of the Salzland district.

Entrepreneurs who manufacture, treat or place on the market food contact materials and articles as finished products in the Salzlandkreis are obliged to notify the competent authority before commencing their activities.

Please complete the form and send it to the Veterinary and Consumer Health Protection Department of the Salzland district.

Businesses that produce or market food, cosmetics, consumer goods (e.g. textiles, toys, tableware) or tobacco products are subject to food monitoring. Official inspections and

sampling are carried out in these businesses on a risk-oriented basis, both routinely and on an ad hoc basis. Inspections are generally unannounced.

The inspection covers all production stages from primary production to retail and catering.

In the Salzland district, approx. 1000 samples are taken annually in the area of food monitoring and sent to the Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Consumer Protection for analysis.

Sampling is carried out in a risk-oriented manner on the basis of sampling plans of the federal states, the federal government and the EU, but also in the event of suspicious circumstances.

This is because specific laboratory tests can identify hazards in food, consumer goods, cosmetics and tobacco products.

If a food business operator has reason to believe that a foodstuff it has produced or distributed does not meet food safety requirements, it recalls it from the market and informs consumers. The food control authorities receive these notifications promptly via the State Office of Administration so that the food inspectors can check, particularly in the retail trade, whether the recall has been effectively implemented and whether these products have been removed from the shelves and whether the consumer information has reached the customer.

Consumers can inform themselves about e.g:

In the Salzland district, volunteer mushroom advisors provide advice to mushroom pickers, preferably by telephone appointment. They also help to clarify possible cases of mushroom poisoning.

The following mushroom advisors from the Salzland district are available to the public to identify mushrooms they have collected themselves. As they do not hold consultation hours, please telephone in advance.

If a product you have purchased is not of the quality or quantity described, or if it spoils prematurely, you should first return it to the shop.

However, if you notice the following, please contact the food monitoring staff.

1. A purchased product poses a health risk.
2. You frequently discover food law defects in a business, shop or catering establishment.

All information and complaints will be treated confidentially.

In this context, we would like to point out that in the event of a product complaint, the food inspection authority of the place of purchase is responsible.

What information is helpful in the event of a complaint?

• What food is it and what does the packaging say? It is best to keep the packaging in case you have any questions.
• For loose goods: What information was attached to the goods in the shop?
• Is there anything left of the food that can be analysed and possibly sent to an official laboratory for testing?
• When and where was the food purchased? Please provide us with the receipt.
• Under what conditions was it offered at the point of sale (e.g. chilled)?
• When was which defect detected (e.g. deviating odour or taste or deviating appearance)?
• How was the food stored at home, when was it opened, was it refrigerated?

If damage to your health has occurred, you should consult a doctor. The doctor's diagnosis may be important in assessing whether the illness could actually have been caused by eating the suspected food. In the case of individual illnesses, it is usually very difficult to prove a connection between an illness and the consumption of a particular food. The following information is helpful:

• Which food could have triggered the illness?
• How much time has passed between the purchase and consumption of the food?
• How much time has passed between the consumption of the food and the onset of the symptoms?
• What symptoms have occurred?
• Have other people eaten the food? Are they also ill?

A suspected food-borne infection or intoxication is formulated if at least 2 people fall ill in connection with the same food. These cases are investigated in close co-operation with the specialist health service.

The causes of foodborne illnesses are manifold. Food business operators have a duty here at every stage of production. In addition, consumers can also prevent such illnesses by handling perishable foods correctly.

If you want to open a food business or sell food and are unsure about the requirements under food law, you are welcome to contact the food monitoring staff.

As the authority responsible for food and feed monitoring, the Salzlandkreis is obliged to inform the consumer in certain cases in accordance with Section 40 (1a) of the German Food and Feed Code.

• acc. § Section 40 para. 1 a no. 1 LFGB (German Food and Feed Code) were exceeded, or
• acc. § 40 para. 1 a no. 2 LFGB an unauthorised substance is present, or
• acc. § Section 40 (1a) No. 3 LFGB, other provisions within the scope of this law that serve to protect consumers from health hazards or from deception or compliance with hygiene requirements have been violated to a not insignificant extent or repeatedly and the imposition of a fine of at least €350 is to be expected.

In this area, quality parameters for fruit, vegetables and eggs as well as for carcasses are tested and evaluated. In particular, measurements and assessments are carried out in accordance with legal requirements in comparison with the labelling of the goods, e.g. quality and weight classes of eggs or sorting of asparagus.
In the finished products section, foodstuffs with the following protected designations: "traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG)", "protected designations of origin (PDO)" and "protected geographical indications (PGI)" are checked for their identity, if necessary up to the manufacturer.