All Oiva evaluation guidelines for registered food premises.
7.1 Hygiene During Sale and Serving
Guide/version: 2237/04.02.00.01/2021/7, valid from 2.1.2025
To be taken into consideration:
- This Guideline pertains to
- the hygiene of the sale of food in retail stores, the management of sales times, and
- the hygiene of the food serving and the food offered at the catering establishments and management of display occasions at food serving”
- This Guideline also pertains to the dispensing of food in e.g. hospitals and retirement homes.
- Regarding all foodstuffs, their locations with respect to products other than foods are also to be controlled.
- The sufficiency of droplet protection is primarily the responsibility of the operator. The inspector should, by means of inspection, interfere only with matters that clearly impair or endanger food safety.
- Unpackaged perishable foodstuffs may only be displayed for serving once.
- To consider in the requirements for serving:
- In this Guideline
- displaying for serving refers to where the customers themselves can pick and choose the foods during serving.
- dispensing refers to where the personnel dispenses the food to the customer.
- In this Guideline
- Hygiene in storage and warehousing of foodstuffs as well as storage, shelf life of the food and labelling of self-prepared foods is evaluated in point 5.6.
- Temperature management during sales and serving is evaluated in point 6.9.
- Temperature management of chilled facilities and cold-stored foodstuffs is evaluated in point 6.2.
- Temperature management of hot-stored foods is evaluated in point 6.3.
- Cleanliness of facilities is evaluated in point 3.1.
- Cleanliness of working utensils and equipment is evaluated in point 3.2.
Matters to be controlled:
- Prevention of microbiological cross-contamination in counter-service sale.
- Prevention of contamination of foods in sale and in displaying for serving in catering establishments.
- Compliance with the date of minimum durability, the ‘use by’ date or the sale time of other food products on sale.
- Times for displaying food for serving.
- The adequacy and suitability of own-check activities and, where appropriate, the plan are controlled by applying the Annex to Guideline 1.6: "Adequacy and Suitability of Own-check Activities".
Operations comply with requirements.
Nothing to comment on as concerns the displaying of foods in connection with sale or serving/displaying for serving.
The sale of products other than foods does not result in impaired food safety with respect to the foods that are sold or displayed for serving.
The management of sale periods and management of display occasions at food serving.
There are small issues with the operations which do not impair food safety or mislead consumers.
Example:
Unpackaged perishable foods are displayed in connection with sale or serving/displaying for serving in a manner that ensures they do not cause cross-contamination or they are adequately protected against other forms of contamination.
There are some minor shortcomings in the displaying of other foods in connection with sale, displaying for serving or serving.
The sale of products other than foods does not result in impaired food safety with respect to the foods that are sold or displayed for serving.
The management of sale periods and the management of display times at food serving.
There are issues with the operations which impair food safety or mislead consumers. These issues must be rectified within a set period of time.
Example:
Foods are displayed in connection with sale or serving/displaying for serving in a manner that results in them causing a risk of cross-contamination or they are at risk of becoming contaminated.
The sale of products other than foods results in impaired food safety with respect to the foods that are sold or served/displayed for serving.
Shortcomings that may impair food safety are found in the sale periods or shelf-lives of foodstuffs. For example, it is found during the inspection that some individual food products past their use-by date are kept for sale, used in the store for the preparation of food products, or sold in counter-service.
Shortcomings that may impair food safety are found in the time periods foods are displayed for serving.
Perishable unpackaged foods are displayed for serving more than once.
There are issues with the operations which jeopardise food safety or considerably mislead consumers, or the operator has failed to comply with orders that have been issued. These issues must be rectified with immediate effect.
Example:
The displaying of foods for sale or serving jeopardises food hygiene.
Products not fit for use as food are sold in the food premises. For example, foodstuffs past their use-by date are systematically kept for sale, used to prepare food or sold in counter-service.
Products not fit for use as food are displayed for serving in the food premises.
Legislation and guidelines (with any amendments) pertaining to the subject:
- Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, 178/2002/EC
- Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs, 852/2004/EC, Article 4, Annex II, Chapter IX, point 3
- Finnish Food Act 297/2021
- Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on food hygiene 318/2021
- Finnish Food Authority's Guide 980/04.02.00.01/2022/1 ”Instructions on food hygiene for registered food operations".
Updates in version 7:
- Removed times for displaying food for serving from the items to be checked, as the only requirement defined in the legislation 12 °C 4h has been moved to point 6.9.
- It has been specified that the shelf-life of self-produced foods is evaluated in line 5.6.