Food safety inspection: what inspectors want to see

Food safety inspectors usually arrive without warning. When they do, a clean kitchen on the day is only part of the picture. What they really want to know is whether your self-monitoring works: are temperatures checked, are deviations handled, and can you prove that staff have been trained? This guide explains who carries out inspections in Austria and Germany, which records are typically requested and how to prepare. It is not legal advice. The binding rules are your own HACCP plan and the requirements of your local authority.

Who inspects food businesses in Austria and Germany?

Both countries work on the same EU basis. The Official Controls Regulation (EU) 2017/625 requires authorities to inspect all food business operators regularly, on a risk basis and with appropriate frequency. How this is organised is a national matter.

Austria

Food control is coordinated by the federal health ministry, which delegates the actual enforcement to the nine federal states. Each state's food inspectorate (Lebensmittelaufsicht) visits businesses, including restaurants, and takes samples. The samples are analysed by AGES, the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, and by the state laboratories of Carinthia and Vorarlberg. According to AGES, around 30,000 food samples are tested each year. An annual risk-based control plan sets out which businesses and products are checked.

Germany

Food control is the responsibility of the 16 federal states. Inspections on site are carried out by the authorities of the districts and independent cities. The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) coordinates state programmes, analyses data and publishes reports. How often a business is inspected follows a federal administrative regulation known as AVV Rahmen-Überwachung (AVV RÜb).

How often do inspections happen, and are they announced?

Frequency depends on risk. In Germany, each business is assigned a risk class under the AVV RÜb. The range runs from inspections on every working day in the highest class to a routine inspection roughly every three years for low-risk businesses. According to the BVL, businesses with a history of problems are inspected more often, and additional unscheduled visits follow complaints or signs of irregularities. In Austria, the risk-based control plan determines which businesses are visited.

In both countries, Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 applies: official controls are carried out without prior notice, unless notice is duly justified and necessary for the control. In practice, expect inspectors to turn up in the middle of service.

Records inspectors typically ask for

Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 requires every food business to put in place a procedure based on HACCP principles and, on request, to show the authority that it is applied. Documents and records must be up to date and proportionate to the nature and size of the business. In practice, inspectors focus on the following:

Area	What you are typically asked to show	Austria / Germany notes
Temperatures	Logs for fridges, freezers and hot-holding units, plus any deviations and the action taken	A German authority guidance sheet recommends checks at least every working day. Set the frequency in your HACCP plan.
Cleaning	Cleaning and disinfection schedule (who, what, when, with which product) and proof that it was done	Standard practice in both countries
Training	Hygiene training records with date, content, duration and attendee signatures	AT: the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO) advises training at least once a year and keeping records for at least three years. DE: health instruction under Section 43 of the Infection Protection Act (IfSG), repeated by the employer every two years and documented
Pest control	Monitoring plan, inspection logs, reports from the pest control contractor	Standard practice in both countries
Goods receipt	Checks of temperature, packaging and dates, for example noted on the delivery note	Standard practice in both countries
Traceability	Suppliers and delivery dates of raw materials	AT: the WKO lists supplier and delivery date for each raw material and the dishes it went into
Allergens	Written records of ingredients from the 14 major allergen groups used in each dish	AT: national allergen information regulation; oral information only with a trained staff member present. DE: Section 4 LMIDV; oral information only if written records exist

A guidance sheet from the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district in Germany shows how concrete expectations are. It lists, among other things, a description of operational flows, a hazard analysis that matches the real processes and documented pest monitoring. For Austria, the WKO training script "Hygiene im Gastgewerbe" stresses that complete self-monitoring records are how you demonstrate due diligence during an inspection.

What inspectors look for on the premises

Paperwork alone is not enough. Inspectors compare your records with what they see. Typical questions include:

Does the temperature shown on the fridge match the entries from the last few days?
When a reading was out of range, is there an action and a re-check, or just a number?
Do staff know what to do if a value is too high?
Does the hazard analysis still reflect the current menu and workflows?
Do the cleaning schedule and the actual state of the kitchen match?

A log full of identical values tends to be less convincing than honest records in which deviations were spotted and handled properly.

What happens after the inspection

The outcome depends on the findings. Minor issues often end with advice. For breaches, the authority usually sets a deadline for corrective action and then returns to check. The WKO describes this for missing allergen information, for example: the usual first step is an order to fix the problem within a set period.

In Austria, according to AGES, serious breaches can lead the authority to restrict or ban the sale of products, prohibit the use of premises or close the business, and it can also report the case for prosecution. In Germany, according to the BVL, measures range from advice and warnings to fines and criminal proceedings, depending on severity.

On costs: under Article 79(2)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, authorities must charge fees for controls that were not originally planned and become necessary because a breach by the same operator was found. Follow-up inspections typically fall into this category. The amounts are set by national fee rules, and in Germany by each federal state.

Checklist: ready for inspection

Your HACCP plan and hazard analysis are at hand and reflect current operations.
Temperature logs are complete, including weekends and holidays when you are open.
Every deviation has a recorded corrective action and a re-check result.
The cleaning and disinfection schedule is current and signed off.
Training records, and in Germany the IfSG health instructions, are available.
Pest control checks and contractor reports are filed.
Goods receipt checks are traceable and delivery notes can be found.
Allergen records are up to date for every dish, including daily specials.
Thermometers work and are checked regularly.
Every shift knows where the records are and who can answer questions.

Conclusion

An inspection is far less stressful when self-monitoring works every day rather than being filled in the night before. A digital system such as Kernwert supports this: staff scan the QR sticker on the unit, see green or red instantly, must enter a corrective action when a value is out of range, and the inspection folder is ready at the click of a button.

Frequently asked questions

Do food safety inspectors announce their visits?

Usually not. Under Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, official controls take place without prior notice unless notice is justified and necessary for the control. This applies in both Austria and Germany.

Are handwritten logs acceptable?

EU law does not prescribe a format. Records must be complete, up to date and proportionate to the size of the business. Whether on paper or digital, what matters is that values, deviations and actions are traceable and available during the inspection.

How long do I need to keep records?

There is no single retention period for all records. The WKO recommends keeping training records for at least three years. Define retention periods in your HACCP plan and check with your local authority if you are unsure what it expects.

Sources

This article is not legal advice and does not replace a business-specific HACCP analysis. The applicable regulations and the requirements of your local authority are decisive.