Hygiene and HACCP · EU · AT · DE

Official food controls

Official food controls check, based on risk and usually without notice, whether your business complies with food law. In Austria the provincial governor is responsible, in Germany the authorities of the federal states. Inspectors may enter premises, request information, inspect documents, take samples and photographs; you must allow the inspection and assist with it.

Legal basis

EU — applies in Austria and Germany: Reg. (EU) 2017/625 Art. 9: controls take place regularly and based on risk, also according to the reliability of own checks, and without prior notice unless notice is necessary. Art. 15: access to premises, systems and documents, and a duty to cooperate.12
AT — Austria: LMSVG: the provincial governor (Landeshauptmann) is responsible, with trained inspectors (§ 24); there is an annual control plan (§ 31). § 35: enter, request information, inspect and copy documents, take samples and photographs, as a rule without prior notice; if there is a complaint, you receive the report.345
DE — Germany: The authority designated under state law is responsible (§ 38 LFGB). § 42 LFGB: enter during business hours, inspect and copy documents, take pictures, request information; § 44: allow and support the inspection.67

What the inspector wants to see

Access to all rooms, including storerooms and cold rooms.57
Documents and electronic records: temperature, cleaning, training, incoming goods, allergens.28
Information on where the ingredients come from and who you supply.79
Samples and photographs.57

Common mistakes

Documents cannot be found because only the manager knows where they are.Practice
Austria: the report with a complaint filed away, but the shortcomings not remedied.510
Documents “handed in later” during the inspection that did not exist before.Practice

Practise, read, print

The guide is in German for now.

Practise · 5 minWhat inspectors want to see GuideHACCP-Checkliste für die Gastronomie

Sources

We read every source in the original on the date shown and checked it against the text: EU law in its German-language version, the links lead to the English one. All sources and what has changed (in German)

1Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls, Art. 9(1) and (4) · checked 23 September 2026
2Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls, Art. 15(1) · checked 23 September 2026
3AT — applies in AustriaLebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (LMSVG), the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, Austria, § 24 (1), (3) and (10) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
4AT — applies in AustriaLebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (LMSVG), the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, Austria, § 31 · in German, checked 23 September 2026
5AT — applies in AustriaLebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (LMSVG), the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, Austria, § 35 (2) and (3) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
6DE — applies in GermanyLebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch (LFGB), the Food and Feed Code, Germany, § 38 (1) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
7DE — applies in GermanyLebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch (LFGB), the Food and Feed Code, Germany, § 42 (2) and § 44 (1) · in German, checked 23 September 2026
8DE — applies in GermanyCity of Munich, food control: information sheet on a business’s own checks (as of May 2026), points 1–6 · in German, checked 23 September 2026
9Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (General Food Law), Art. 18(1)–(3) · checked 23 September 2026
10AT — applies in AustriaLebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (LMSVG), the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, Austria, § 21 · in German, checked 23 September 2026

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