AGES has been operating the product warning service for 15 years. The mandate of the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (BMASGPK) includes the publication of product warnings and product recalls. Notices posted at retailers are independent of the AGES product warning service, but are included in the following report as they are also public information. The analysed data comes from the database of the RASFF contact point of AGES and from the AGES product warning service.

The basis of every product recall or warning is a possible health risk of the product. Consumers are informed on the AGES website, via a product warning newsletter and on the social media channels Facebook, X, Instagram and Bluesky. A press release is also published for product warnings.

In general, residues and contaminants were the most common reasons for public information. In total, this has been the case almost 200 times over the past 15 years. Since the beginning, AGES has published 660 recalls and 65 product warnings in accordance with the Food and Consumer Protection Act. Most product warnings were issued in the toys product category (10 out of 65), while ready meals and snacks caused the most product recalls (125 out of 660). Over 360,000 food products were analysed and assessed by AGES during the entire period.

In addition, 19 safety notices for patients on medicinal products have been published since 2010 on behalf of the Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG). AGES has also published recalls regarding animal feed and warnings about electronic cigarettes filled with liquid, which can lead to respiratory diseases.