The AFSCA Received a Record 6,268 Consumer Complaints in Belgium during 2025

The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA) of Belgium published on March 25, 2026 its activity balance for 2025, which recorded 182,420 inspections in 56,456 companies, with 85.9% favorable results, and 62,168 samples analyzed, of which 98.1% were compliant. The consumer contact point received a record 6,268 complaints —an average of 25 per business day—, 20% more than in 2024. About a third of complaints related to hygiene, a quarter corresponded to people who became ill and attributed the condition to food consumption, and an additional 18% related to storage conditions such as temperature or expiration dates. 55% led to concrete field measures, and the agency resolved 92% within 30 days of submission.

A 20% increase in consumer complaints in a single year, in a context where the compliance rate of laboratory samples remained stable at 98.1%, suggests the increase does not necessarily reflect real deterioration of food safety in the country, but a citizenry more willing to report suspicions of poor hygiene or foodborne illness. That gap between public perception and analytical result is itself relevant management data.

For TAAG, the fact that a quarter of consumer complaints in Belgium correspond to suspected illness linked to food, without necessarily existing laboratory sample confirmation, reinforces the same argument appearing in the country's foodborne illness report: the ability to retain and analyze reference samples at the point of consumption or sale is what allows converting a consumer suspicion into laboratory confirmation, rather than leaving it as an unresolved report.