Even three years after the scandal surrounding Wilke's contaminated sausages, the black-green state government is apparently only able to a limited extent to have Hessian food companies controlled in such a way that they pose no danger to people.
Although the Ministry of Consumer Protection is the supreme technical supervisor for food monitoring and the health authorities and regional councils are obliged to report on food controls, the Gernsheim fruit and vegetable shoot Maus has not been checked for two years.
The consumer protection organization Foodwatch calls for a fundamental reform of food monitoring.
Due to the lack of hygiene in the southern Hessian company Maus, several people fell ill with listeriosis, and there is said to have been one death.
After a report by the district administration of Groß-Gerau, the public prosecutor's office in Darmstadt is investigating the owner of the company, as the authority of the German Press Agency confirmed.
Consumer Protection Minister Priska Hinz (Die Grünen) did not personally inform the public on Tuesday about what the state government wants to do to increase the density of controls.
In a statement over the weekend, her ministry listed future and already implemented improvements in food monitoring.
It says, among other things: “Since March 5, 2020, the approved companies have been regularly, risk-based and recurrently checked by the regional presidents.
"The new listeria scandal in Hesse shows the eternal basic problem: German authorities do not control enough and thus endanger our health," said Foodwatch Managing Director Chris Methmann, adding: "Every third food control in Germany fails." He calls for fundamental reform of food control, because hundreds of municipal authorities are responsible for the control, which are under the political influence of district administrators.
Methmann called for the creation of an independent state agency for food monitoring.
State sees responsibility in the district of Groß-Gerau
The Ministry of Consumer Protection sees the Groß-Gerau district as responsible.
"Of course we must be able to expect that even in times of a corona pandemic, which was certainly difficult for some circles, the high-risk companies will continue to be checked in order to ensure the safety of food production," said a ministry spokeswoman on Tuesday when asked.
According to the spokeswoman, the southern Hessian vegetable company Maus should have been checked twice a year.
"We have to assume that this will happen.
That is the task of the responsible veterinary authorities.” Although there is a corresponding offer from the state, the Groß-Gerau district did not request the Food Safety Task Force, which is based at the Darmstadt Regional Council.
When asked whether the state government was now checking whether the food controls in the other districts of Hesse were being carried out correctly after the scandal in Gernsheim, the spokeswoman referred to the “regular service meetings” with the veterinary authorities and the regional councils.
FDP: Hinz is responsible
The Offenbacher Sana Klinikum, in which a listeria infection had been detected in three patients, announced stricter quality controls.
In addition, certain goods, such as pre-cut raw vegetables, should no longer be delivered.
The death of an 83-year-old patient was not caused by listeriosis, but by two other diseases, said managing director Sascha John.
A patient in the Markus Hospital in Frankfurt was also suffering from listeriosis.
There, the distribution of leaf salads and raw vegetables was stopped.
According to the FDP in the state parliament, Minister Hinz is responsible for the new food scandal.
"Ms. Hinz must now explain and explain transparently how the new scandal came about and how she wants to avoid a third scandal," Wiebke Knell demanded from the Liberals.
The FDP has submitted an urgent request for a report on this.