The Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (Afsca) inspected 1,008 school kitchens in 2024, with 67.7% receiving a positive report.
The remaining kitchens were issued 358 warnings for areas needing improvement that posed no immediate health risk to children. Additionally, 21 official reports were filed for more severe violations.
“Common issues include hand hygiene, such as inadequate sinks, lack of contact-free taps, or insufficient washing and drying facilities (12.3% non-compliant), poor personal hygiene like unclean uniforms (9.1% non-compliant), and unclean preparation surfaces (7.7% non-compliant),” Afsca stated.
To address these problems, Afsca offers free training for staff working in community kitchens. In 2024, a total of 2,016 people participated in these courses.
For 25 years, Afsca has been monitoring the country’s entire food chain, with 1,400 employees conducting over 107,000 inspections annually.
