Pursuant to Section 40 (1a) of the German Food, Commodities and Feed Code (Lebensmittel-, Bedarfsgegenstände- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch, LFGB), the competent authorities are obliged, in the event of sufficient suspicion, to inform consumers, naming the person responsible, of the following
1.exceedance of specified limit values/maximum contents/maximum quantities within the scope of the LFGB (foodstuffs and animal feed) or
2.a substance not permitted or prohibited under regulations within the scope of this Act which is present in a food or feed, or
3.all other violations of hygiene regulations or regulations serving the protection of health or deception, if they occur to a not insignificant extent or repeatedly and for which a fine of at least 350 euros is to be expected.
According to the will of the legislator, certain outstanding violations of the law shall be published irrespective of the existence of the other requirements under this Act. It is now mandatory that the names of the offenders be disclosed when the listed violations are identified. The authorities have no discretion in this regard. Reference is made to the explanatory memorandum to the Act in printed matter 17/7374 of the German Bundestag.
The violation must be sufficiently substantiated on the basis of facts according to the dutiful conviction of the authority; the mere - unexplained - suspicion of a violation is not sufficient for the far-reaching interference in the business operations of the food or feed entrepreneur associated with the publication. The investigation results according to No. 1 and 2 must be backed up by a second investigation. The official food and feed testing facilities of the state are accredited according to European legal requirements in accordance with Art. 12 (2) of Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004.
The information is also intended to take account of consumers' interest in reliable official information on the market environment. In the event of legal violations due to limit values being exceeded or the detection of prohibited substances, there is a particular interest on the part of the public in knowing which foodstuffs or feedstuffs are contaminated with unacceptable pollutants or undesirable substances, irrespective of the respective severity of the violation.
The results of official control activities according to this regulation are published nationwide on the website www.verbraucherinfo-bw.de (opens in a new tab).
The publication primarily serves to actively inform the consumer for reasons of official transparency and should not be misunderstood as a warning against the products or businesses listed. The information presented should therefore not be confused with other forms of publication (public warnings) under this Act, which serve to avert danger to the health of consumers or to significantly mislead them. Public warnings against corresponding products can be found throughout Germany on the portal www.lebensmittelwarnung.de (opens in a new tab) and specifically for Baden-Württemberg on the website of the Ministry for Rural Areas and Consumer Protection at www.mlr-bw.de/de/unser-service/lebensmittel-und-produktwarnungen (opens in a new tab).
Further information
Results of controls by the official food monitoring authorities in Stuttgart (opens in a new tab)
Food monitoring, consumer protection and veterinary affairs
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You have questions? Call us: from any network, without an area code. Authorities number 115: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can usually reach the authorities number 115 at fixed network tariffs and thus free of charge via flat rates. Sign language telephone: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.