What food hygiene is and why hygiene competence is needed
Outcome. FI: Henkilö tietää mitä elintarvikehygienia on ja miksi hygieniaosaamista tarvitaan. EN: The person knows what food hygiene is and why hygiene competence is needed.
Why it matters
Most food poisonings are due to neglect of hygienic work practices. Hygiene competence is what prevents them, and the hygiene passport proves you have it.
What food hygiene is
Food hygiene means the measures and conditions necessary to control hazards and ensure that food is fit for human consumption, taking its intended use into account. Hygienic operation aims to ensure the safety, wholesomeness and cleanliness of food from field to table. It protects consumers, prevents early spoilage, prevents economic losses and reduces waste.
Who is responsible
- Operators ensure that food handlers are supervised and instructed or trained in food hygiene in accordance with their work. The employer is responsible for guiding, advising and, if necessary, training all food workers, and for ensuring that everyone who needs a passport has one.
- A person who handles unpackaged easily perishable food in a food premises must have a hygiene passport when such work has lasted at least three months. The law does not require it from every employee in the food sector. An employer may still ask applicants for a passport before hiring.
- The operator keeps a record of staff hygiene competence and shows it to the authority on request.
- The passport is not issued to the employer: the worker shows the original to the employer. It is personal, regardless of who paid. It is valid until further notice. It cannot be obtained on the basis of a qualification or training.
The test
- The test has 40 true/false statements. At least 34 correct answers are needed, so up to six mistakes are allowed. A blank or unclear answer counts as wrong, and wrong answers do not give negative points.
- The answer time is 45 minutes, and a test taker may leave no earlier than 20 minutes after the start.
- It is done on paper on Ruokavirasto's test form in a supervised test room, in Finnish, Swedish or English. It cannot be organised electronically, remotely, in premises within home peace or abroad.
- Answers are marked with a ballpoint pen that is not black or a similar tool; pencil is not allowed.
- The test taker writes their full name and Finnish personal ID number (or date of birth if none) on the form. The tester checks identity from an original, valid photo ID; a photocopy is not enough.
- If a test taker cheats or attempts to, including by using a phone, the test is not assessed and is failed.
- The tester informs the result at the latest one month after the test. A failed test taker may ask for correction only for a checking error or an error in a statement; a near-miss score is not grounds.
- Only a tester approved by Ruokavirasto issues the passport, and may charge a fee for the test and the passport. Training before the test is not mandatory.
- The passport consists of an A4 paper certificate and a bank-card-size plastic card, and either proves competence.
Scenario
Jonna starts in a bakery deli handling unpackaged perishable food. She does not need the passport on day one, but after three months of such work she must have it. She books a test with an approved tester, brings her original photo ID and a ballpoint pen that is not black, and answers 36 of 40 correctly. She passes, because at least 34 are needed.
Numbers to remember
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Statements | 40 true/false |
| Pass mark | at least 34 correct (6 mistakes allowed) |
| Time | 45 minutes; leave no earlier than after 20 minutes |
| Passport needed after | 3 months of such work |
| Result informed within | 1 month |
Myth vs reality
- Myth: Everyone in a food business needs a passport from day one. Reality: Only those the law requires, after three months.
- Myth: Blank answers get half a point. Reality: They count as wrong.
- Myth: The passport expires after five years. Reality: It is valid until further notice.
- Myth: A course is compulsory before the test. Reality: It is not.
In the test
Know the format numbers. "Online", "pencil" and "photocopy" are false.