Food monitoring

Various vegetables

Photo: pixabay.com

• Operational controls

  In order to protect consumers from health hazards, it is a legal requirement that regular inspections are carried out in all establishments that produce, handle or market food.
  
  Inspections are carried out to check whether hygiene and building regulations are being observed in the plants. The spatial equipment and furnishings as well as the production, storage and other handling processes during processing and sale are checked from a hygiene point of view.

• Advice on food law issues

  If you want to operate, expand or change a business in the food sector, you may want to find out in advance which legal regulations must be observed and what knowledge you need to have.
  
  The staff of the veterinary office will be happy to provide you with advice and assistance. Open questions can be answered either in the veterinary office itself or during an on-site inspection of the company.
  
  In this way, it can be clarified in advance whether your construction project complies with the food law regulations and whether the hygienic requirements are met.
  
  Please make an appointment in good time by telephone with one of the employees of the veterinary office (telephone 05361 28-2141).

• Sampling

  The food inspectors of the veterinary office take samples of foodstuffs, cosmetics, tobacco products and consumer goods in all companies.
  
  For this purpose, the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES) draws up a sample plan in which the samples to be taken are listed. For 50% of the samples, it is specified exactly which types of samples are to be taken. For the remaining 50%, the inspectors can select their own samples within predefined product categories.
  
  The samples taken are handed over to LAVES, where they are examined with regard to their material composition and condition as well as for sufficient labeling.
  
  The City of Wolfsburg is informed of the results of the examination. In the event of a complaint, a warning is issued or a fine is imposed, or the complaint is forwarded to the supervisory authority responsible for the manufacturer of the product.
  authority responsible for the manufacturer of the product.

• Consumer complaints

  In justified cases of suspicion, for example if you suddenly fall ill after eating a food product, you can have food or consumer goods tested.
  
  In most cases, a sample of the same food or consumer goods with the same production date in the same company as the food or consumer goods you purchased is taken. As a rule, opened packages cannot be examined free of charge for the consumer, since problems can arise here with the obligation to provide evidence to the manufacturer.
  
  If the examination of a food or a commodity is not possible within the sample plan as a so-called planned sample, there is the possibility to examine food or commodities as suspect samples.

• Link to the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety LAVES
• Link to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
• Link to the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety BVL
• Link to the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection BMELV
• Link to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Consumer Protection and Regional Development

• Contact

  City of Wolfsburg
  Veterinary Office
  Schachtweg 10
  38440 Wolfsburg
  
  Phone: 05361 28-2141
  Fax: 05361 28-1836
  E-mail: veterinaeramt@stadt.wolfsburg.de
  

• To the home page of the Veterinary Office