Elizabeth Bailey
The number of government warnings about dangerous and unhygienic food and other products has increased significantly since the beginning of the year. Food was predominantly recalled, followed by consumer goods and cosmetic products.
Referring to an evaluation by the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), Wirtschaftswoche reported today that government warnings about dangerous and unhygienic food and other products have increased significantly this year.
According to this, a total of 167 warnings were published on the state portal foodwarning.de by the end of August. That is 30 more than in the same period last year. Of these, 139 reports related to food (39 more than in the same period of the previous year), the rest related to consumer goods and cosmetics.
Different reasons for food recalls
According to the report, exceeding limit values, microbiological contamination and the discovery of foreign bodies in the food sector were often the reason for a warning. Many recalls involved fruit and vegetables, cereals and baked goods, followed by meat, poultry and sausage.
In the course of consumer protection, Chefreader regularly provides information about product recalls. Recently, several large recall campaigns had caused a stir. Discounter Lidl recalled hemp-containing foods such as pastries, tea and protein bars because the active ingredient content was too high.
In addition, several manufacturers took products off the market because the ingredient locust bean gum was contaminated with traces of the carcinogenic pesticide ethylene oxide, including Seitenbacher fitness bars and vegan cheese from Lidl.
