More than 1,500 food inspectors are missing in Germany. According to the German Association of Food Inspectors (BVLK), the number of official inspections falls far short of what is required. “We are currently managing only about half of the planned inspections” said Maik Maschke, chair of the BVLK, to “Welt am Sonntag”. “Consequently, we can focus only on checks in high‑risk areas”.
There are about 2,500 inspectors spread across roughly 430 municipal supervisory authorities nationwide. They evaluate hygiene, product quality, storage conditions, labeling, and traceability systems at food manufacturers, as well as in bakeries, butcher shops, retail outlets, weekly markets, restaurants, and canteens.
The BVLK calls for better staffing and technical resources to improve inter‑authority networking. Maschke points to a general shortage of skilled workers, low pay, and municipal budget constraints as the main causes of the staffing gap. “I know of cases where inspectors are trained but, due to limited local finances, are not engaged in active service” he added.
Instead of expanding personnel, the current political response has been to reduce routine inspections. Since the latest reform of the framework regulations, inspections have been cut by 40 %. Yet even these lowered targets are difficult to achieve in many regions.