It’s a crisis meeting that nothing has filtered out so far. At the end of 2019, a secret meeting put face to face the Vaud cantonal chemist, Christian Richard, and food professionals that his services are responsible for controlling: restaurateurs, caterers, butchers, bakers, cheese makers …
Read our editorial: “Need for clarity in the kitchen”
The subject of the discussion, according to several participants: the hygiene controls deemed excessively severe that the cantonal chemist would impose on these different trades. The Vaud state councilor responsible for the economy, Philippe Leuba, was present at this meeting, as confirmed by his department.
When questioned, Christian Richard did not expand on the course of the meeting. But he assumes the “slightly more repressive” turning point that began since his arrival at the post of cantonal chemist, in 2014: “What has mainly changed is that our controls are better documented and that we denounce a little more, explains -t it. And we are not stuck with administrative channels which, for certain establishments, no longer have any effect, we transmit serious cases to the prefectures or the Public Prosecutor’s Office. There are a lot of recurrences, we have a situation that does not improve on the ground. “
As for restaurateurs, frustration has been mounting for months when faced with administrative requirements perceived as more and more overwhelming, explains Gilles Meystre. PLR MP presides over the restaurateurs’ association, GastroVaud. He too was present at the end of 2019 meeting. He spoke of “discontent” and “difficulties which have arisen” between the Cantonal Office of Consumer Affairs and professionals in the sector. “Our members have the feeling that the controls are multiplying and fussy,” he explains. There are cavalier attitudes, the inspectors sometimes come at the time of the shot, quibble for a split catelle and give very short deadlines to make the corrections. “
Gilles Meystre (right) with Josef Zisyadis during the presentation of the “Home Made” label from GastroVaud.
Last spring, already, the president of GastroVaud had denounced the “excesses of the hygienists” in a ticket addressed to its members: “How often, unfairly, shouldn’t the restaurant wear the hat, when the hygienists impose their protective but oh so childish visions? Or when ill-conceived standards sometimes earn us stiff fines. It’s not that far from… swallowing your hat, ”he wrote. He then qualified his remarks as “probably awkward”, while calling for not to give in “to the overprotection of our fellow humans, consumers and citizens”.
Will the end of 2019 meeting be followed up? According to GastroVaud, relations with the consumer service have improved. But its president would like to conclude some sort of gentleman’s agreement with the cantonal chemist, who would limit the checks to certain time slots, especially out of service. He also asked for a better dialogue with the inspectors: “We need controls, but they must be respectful of the craftsmen, pleads Gilles Meystre. There has to be dialogue, there has to be partnership. The services of the cantonal chemist must not only control and sanction, but also inform and accompany in good intelligence the restaurateurs, as do the police or the employment service. “
Philippe Leuba’s side, we stress that there is no question of depriving the cantonal chemist of his freedom to carry out controls as he sees fit. It is therefore not certain that the tensions between cantonal controllers and Vaudois restaurateurs will be completely resolved in the coming months.
The number of restaurants explodes, the cantons find it difficult to keep up
Each Swiss restaurant must undergo a hygiene check once every two years. A theoretical rhythm that not everyone respects
The recidivism rate is impressive. In Switzerland, almost half of the restaurants reported to justice for unsatisfactory hygiene checks have been pinned for similar incidents in the past. This is shown by our exclusive analysis of the sanctions imposed on Swiss restaurants in 2018.
Some establishments have even become repeat offenders, fined 3 or 4 times in a row for failed checks. The fault of the penalties deemed too low – a few hundred francs at most in the vast majority of cases. But also the anonymity that protects sanctioned restaurants. “Our system would work better if the names were published in serious cases,” said Aargau prosecutor Simon Burger.
Sometimes checks go wrong, with tensions and even threats made against the inspectors. Two Vaud and Geneva criminal orders state that the staff of the restaurants inspected refused to sign the inspection report. The police rarely have to intervene.
“Inspections are never announced in advance,” said Geneva cantonal chemist Patrick Edder. They are generally going well, but it has been getting a little tight in recent years. ”
Another problem from the authorities’ point of view is the insufficient frequency of controls. In theory, the rule is clear: each catering establishment with a kitchen must be checked at least once every two years. An ordinance of the Federal Council expressly stipulates this. This means that 50% of the restaurants must be inspected each year. But a survey we conducted with the cantons shows that this rhythm is not respected – or at least not everywhere.
In 2018, there were almost 59,000 restaurants in Switzerland. Some 46% were tested that year – not far from the theoretical floor of 50%. But some cantons are far below. In Ticino, only 20% of restaurants were inspected in 2018. In Valais and Neuchâtel, the proportion reached 37% and 39%, respectively, while Geneva was 63%, well above the legal minimums.
In Bern, the federal administration notes that certain cantons do not comply with legal requirements. But the director of the Federal Office for Food Security (OSAV), Michael Beer, admits his inability to change the situation: “We lack a concrete mandate to ensure more controls,” he explains. Law enforcement is the responsibility of the cantons. “
But while the number of restaurants is increasing (+ 43% in ten years in the canton of Lucerne, + 20% in Geneva in 5 years, + 7.5% in the canton of Vaud from 2018 to 2019), many cantons have limited the resources allocated to controls. To make matters worse, the cantonal hygiene services must control more and more different sectors. Swimming pools, solariums or tattoo parlors are also under their responsibility.
“In general, in Europe, there are fewer and fewer official controls and there is more and more reliance on self-control,” points out Barbara Pfenniger of the Fédération romande des consommateurs. But self-checking can only work if there are checks behind! The most important thing for us is that the resources allocated to controls do not decrease. “
The annual reports of the cantonal laboratories show how limited these resources are. In Friborg, seven food inspectors must carry out more than 1,500 inspections per year. In Geneva, 11.5 full-time positions are supposed to control more than 3000 restaurants. Ticino has just created two posts to increase the pace of checks. Without guaranteeing that this additional staff will suffice to reach the legal target of 50% of restaurants inspected per year.
Created: 02/26.2020, 07h56
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