Lebensmittelhygiene

Hygiene is the top priority when handling food! Carelessness in this area can lead to serious infectious diseases (e.g. salmonella infections), which can be life-threatening, especially for small children or the elderly. A very large group of people can quickly be affected by an infection.

Hygiene regulations apply to anyone who produces, manufactures, handles or places food on the market (e.g. milk producers, butchers, restaurants). Anyone who produces, treats or places food on the market is obliged to carry out regular in-house hygiene checks. Only persons who have been trained in food hygiene may be employed.

Particularly strict hygiene regulations must be observed when handling open and freshly prepared food. Pathogens can, for example, multiply very easily in meat, dairy products, eggs, ice cream, delicatessen salads, mayonnaise, sauces, fish or baked goods with undercooked fillings (e.g. cream cakes).

If you have doubts in specific cases (e.g. in a food store, at a street festival or in a restaurant) as to whether the hygiene requirements are being met, or if you have health problems after eating something specific, you can contact the food inspection authority. You can find out more about this topic in the service description "Food monitoring - consumer complaints".

The hygiene regulations for handling food cover the entire food chain and relate to the following areas

• Feed production and use
• Animal health of the food-producing animals
• Primary production (production of food by the farmer, fisherman, hunter, etc.)
• Business premises and facilities for the processing of food
• Handling of food
• Personal hygiene (protection against infection)

Note: As the provisions of hygiene law are very detailed, you will only find examples here. Further information on the food chain and the interaction between food business operators, monitoring authorities and consumers can be found, for example, in the annual report on the integrated multi-annual individual control plan of the Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

Establishments and facilities

Premises and associated facilities (e.g. sanitary facilities) must be clean, adequately ventilated and well lit. Floors, windows and work surfaces must be easy to clean at all times.

Food must not be adversely affected by anything (e.g. pathogens or spoilage agents, but also odors, dust or pests). Open food must be protected from coughing, sneezing, dust and the like (e.g. by a cover).

Facilities must also be available to allow dishes and other equipment to be cleaned or, if necessary, disinfected at any time.

Handling food

When handling food, care must be taken to ensure that it is not adversely affected (e.g. by microbial contamination or unhygienic storage conditions, such as in unclean containers). Staff must comply with the regulations on personal hygiene.

All objects that come into contact with food must be clean and undamaged at all times and must not adversely affect it.

In the case of transport containers or other containers for storing food, care must be taken to ensure that they can maintain the required temperature at all times (e.g. when freezing or keeping food warm).

Personal hygiene

Staff must comply with the requirements for personal hygiene and the provisions of the Infection Protection Act, for example

• clean and suitable work clothing (head covering when handling unpackaged perishable food)
• Regular cleaning of hands
  Hands must always be washed before starting work, after every visit to the toilet and after working with raw meat, fish, poultry and eggs. Disposable towels must be available for drying hands.

Only persons who do not have any diseases or signs of such diseases that can be transmitted through food may come into contact with food.

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