Not Enough Food Inspectors In Salzburg

02 Mar 2013

Walter Steidl, health advisor and vice governor of Salzburg (SPÖ), said that the gaps in the controls of the food industry and in parts of agriculture is largely due to a lack of staff of food inspectors.

"This gap will be filled because additional food inspectors will be trained", said Mr Steidl.

This will, however, take a while as the first training for food inspectors will only start in February 2014. Mr Steidl said that official courses are organised by the Health Ministry and offered every two years.

He assured that controls in "companies" (this includes hospitals, retirement homes and the gastronomy industry) are principally carried out in a risk-orientated manner.

Among the highest risk groups are kitchens in hospitals and retirement homes. The majority of companies in which the inspection rules are not fulfilled are considered low risk companies.

Due to the horsemeat scandal, the Health Ministry ordered the drawing of special samples in Salzburg. In 10 out of 15 samples results are still missing. One out of five samples was positive: this concerned the pasta sold in Hallein at Lidl. The supermarket chain has already taken the product from the shelves.

As there was no specific suspicion, no further controls were carried out, said Mr Steidl. "There is also no producer of ready meals of beef in Salzburg", he said.

Source: http://www.austriantimes.at/news/Business/2013-03-01/47217/Not_enough_food_inspectors_in_Salzburg