AGES Food Safety

Our three institutes in Innsbruck, Linz and Vienna examine and assess food, commodities, cosmetics and toys. We are the contact point for the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).

Geschäftsfeld Leitung Friedrich Sövegjarto

Our goal is to ensure that food, cosmetics, consumer goods and toys are safe and that what's inside is what's on the outside of the package.

Mag. Dr. Friedrich Sövegjarto, Leitung

Our tasks

  • Examination and assessment of foodstuffs, commodities, cosmetics and toys
  • Management of reference laboratories
  • Support of the food authorities
  • Handling of priority actions
  • Administrative handling of the Europe-wide alert systems RASFF (European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed), RAPEX (European Rapid Alert System for Consumer Protection) and Liaison Office for Food and Feed
  • Participation in national and international committees
  • Research
  • Method development
  • Control of internet trade
  • Coordination of the topics authenticity and origin, authenticity and protection against deception
  • Coordination of the fight against food fraud

Our institutes

Institute for Food Safety Innsbruck

Our focus

  • Analysis and assessment of
    • Vegetable food in general
    • Coffee
    • Tea and tea-like products
    • spices, fixed products, food mustard
    • Bathing water
  • Performance of microbiological tests, advice on microbiological and hygiene issues, hygiene controls
  • Analysis of pesticide residues, nitrate, illicit dyes (e.g. azo dyes), plant constituents (e.g. caffeine)

National reference laboratories

Opening hours

MO - DO 07:30 - 15:30 h FR 07:30 - 12:00 h

Institute for Food Safety Linz

Our focus

  • Analysis and assessment of
    • Food for children
    • honey, sugar, sugar types, confectionery, cocoa, -products
    • fats, oils and their products
    • pasta, soups, table salt
    • ready meals, delicatessen
    • Food additives
    • toys and baby products
  • Analysis of nutrients, vitamins and other food ingredients, mycotoxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
  • Toy analysis
  • Immission measurements with plants (biomonitoring)

National reference laboratory

Institute for Food Safety Vienna

Our focus

  • Analysis and assessment of
    • Animal food
    • Cosmetics
    • Consumer goods
    • Beverages
    • Food supplements
    • Novel foods
    • Spirits
    • Feed (analytics only)
  • Analysis of ingredients and additives, veterinary drugs, hormones, contaminants, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), allergens
  • Varieties and species identification
  • Detection of food irradiation

National Reference Laboratories

Competence Center for the Food Chain

Our focus

  • Technical coordination of the topics origin, authenticity and adulteration
  • Coordination of the activities of food experts
  • Target group specific consulting and coordination center for food law topics and protection against deception
  • Internet control: AGES Internet unit for the support of authorities in the field of official Internet surveillance
  • Agri-Food Fraud: Central unit for combating fraudulent practices along the food chain
  • Monitoring and project-related processing of relevant new risk topics

National Contact Point and National Coordination

Our focus

  • National contact point "Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed" (RASFF)
  • National support point "Rapid Alert System for Non Food Consumer Products" (RAPEX)
  • Administrative processing of "Organic Farming Information System" (OFIS)
  • Administrative processing "Trade Control and Expert System" (TRACES)
  • National contact point of the "International Food Safety Authorities Network" (INFOSAN) of the WHO (World Health Organization)
  • Liaison office according to VO(EU) 882/2004
  • National contact point "Better Training for Safer Food" (BTSF)
  • Internet monitoring to support the areas of medical market surveillance and food safety (cosmetics, novel foods, food supplements) against prohibited advertising, control of the Internet market
  • Bathing water monitoring

Contact

Leitung

Mag. Dr. Friedrich Sövegjarto

Leitung

Dr. Hermann Unterluggauer

Leitung

Dr. Daniela Schachner

Leitung

DI Thomas Kuhn

Leitung

Dr. Florian Tschandl

Leitung

Ing. Andrea Igler

Last updated: 10.10.2023

automatically translated