"We have to assume there is ten times as much" spoiled meat being sold, federation head Jürgen Abraham told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper.

He strongly criticized state food-handling controls, saying the state was not keeping up the "necessary controls over the flow of goods" in order to keep consumers safe. He called for Germany to double its number of food controllers, currently at 2,500.

Avoiding 'cronyism'

He also said the controllers should rotate their duties, to keep "cronyism" from developing.

Over the past few months, German authorities have uncovered dozens of tons of rancid meat, mainly from retailers in Bavaria. A German wholesaler accused of having sold rotten met to shops across Germany and in eight other European countries even committed suicide amid the scandal earlier this month.

Seehofer: greater penalties

Consumer Minister Horst Seehofer has asked the states to improve their food controls, and impose maximum penalties when the law is broken. Food-law offenses have too often been considered trifling, he told the Augsburger Allgemeinen newspaper Saturday. "We have a lot of latitude to punish these crimes. But we need to issue arrests and shut down businesses," he said.

He also called for offending companies, where spoiled meat is found, to be cited by name.