In Germany, more than 1,500 food‑inspection personnel are missing. According to the German Food Inspectors Association (BVLK), the number of official checks falls well below the required level. “We manage only about half of the planned inspections right now” said Maik Maschke, the BVLK’s federal chairman, when speaking to “Welt am Sonntag”. “Therefore we can only focus on high‑risk areas”.
Across the country there are roughly 2,500 food inspectors employed by about 430 local monitoring agencies. They are responsible for testing hygiene, product quality, storage conditions, labeling, and trace‑ability systems at food manufacturers, as well as in small‑scale operations such as bakeries, butcher shops, retail stores, farmers’ markets, restaurants, and cafeterias.
The BVLK is calling for better staffing and more technical resources to connect the authorities more effectively. Maschke cited not only the general shortage of qualified workers but also low wages and municipalities’ austerity measures as reasons for the personnel gap. “I know of cases where inspectors are trained but, due to tight municipal budgets, are not actually put into active service” he noted.
Rather than expanding staff, the political response has been to cut routine checks. Since the last regulatory reform, the framework has allowed a 40 percent reduction in scheduled inspections. Even that lower target is not being met in many areas.
