Citizens do not expect as much from their state as it sometimes seems.
However, safety in its many forms is one of the very first tasks, and this includes the monitoring of food production.
The fact that in Hesse, only three years after the scandal surrounding germ-contaminated sausage products from the North Hessian manufacturer Wilke, the listeria infestation of food again led to illness and death shows that the authorities are a bit amiss with this core task.
Anyone who listened to the cumbersome explanations of representatives of the Darmstadt regional council and the administration of the Groß-Gerau district on Monday, as well as the statements of the ministry headed by the Green politician Priska Hinz, imagined they were in a parallel world of peculiar excessive bureaucracy, in which there were nevertheless gaps in practical activity be accepted for years.
Bulky, but urgently needed
Of course, not every operation can be monitored in such close succession that inadequate production conditions are completely ruled out.
One can also assume that the vast majority of companies work meticulously and properly even without constant monitoring.
But it seems that simpler structures and additional employees are needed in food control.
The rebuke by the state audit office a few weeks ago, like the latest case in Gernsheim, shows an urgency that Hinz should not duck away from.
It's a cumbersome task, for sure.
Politicians and administrations are constantly trying to distinguish themselves with something new, even an elegant support program, even a fancy service.
Such things may draw attention.
But it is more important that the public sector fulfills its core tasks: regularly renewing the sewage system, keeping school toilets in order, making sure that the streets are not potholed and that citizens can get passports quickly - and that food controls work.
Nobody thanks you for that.
But Easter was a reminder of how important it is.