Food monitoring is a tool to recognize and avoid potential risks to consumers. While the state enforces food law primarily through suspicion and risk-based investigations, food monitoring is a system of repeated representative measurements and evaluations of undesirable substances and contaminants in foods. The food monitoring programme is a joint investigative programme by the German Federal Government and the federal state which is complementary to official food control as carried out by the state. This report provides the results of the analysis in 2005 of more than 5000 samples of 50 foods or food groups of domestic and foreign origin.

Summary.- Objectives and organisation.- The 2005 monitoring plan.- Number of samples and origin.- Findings of market basket monitoring.- Results of monitoring projects.- Survey of foods examined under food monitoring schemes to date.- Glossary.- Addresses of the ministries responsible for food monitoring activities, Federal Government office in charge.- List of the state (Länder) laboratories responsible for food monitoring.