Whereas in 1900, when the first German meat inspection law was created, protection against infectious agents and parasites played by far the greatest role, today the monitoring of residues from feed and medicines, environmental chemicals and other substances that pose a health risk and protection against deception by substandard meat have been added as tasks.

Official monitoring of meat hygiene is harmonized throughout the EU; it is divided into live animal and subsequent meat inspections on the one hand and official monitoring of businesses that market meat and meat products on the other.

For the veterinarians and food inspectors of the City of Bonn, the main tasks are the hygiene monitoring of businesses that place meat and its products on the market, the monitoring of transports and the inspection of records and documentation.

Since the cessation of slaughtering at the municipal abattoir, ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections as well as Trichinella inspections have only been carried out on a small scale.