An employee must have a hygiene passport if they
- work on food premises and
- handle unpackaged perishable foods.
For example such groups as employers, volunteers, students or trainees must also have Hygiene Passports if they work with unpackaged foods on food premises.
Food premises include for example:
- cafés, restaurants and fast food restaurants
- food stores (shops that sell foodstuffs)
- institutional kitchens, bakeries and factories that produce foodstuffs.
Perishable foods include for example milk, meat, fish and chopped vegetables.
An employee must obtain a Hygiene Passport at the latest three months after starting work in which a Hygiene Passport is required.
Any previous jobs in the food sector in which a Hygiene Passport is required are also included retrospectively in this three-month period.
- For example, if such work has consisted of very short periods, all these periods are added up.
- If the total length of these work periods is less than three months, the employee does not need a Hygiene Passport yet. This means that an employee can work on food premises for three months without a Hygiene Passport even if they handle unpackaged perishable foodstuffs.
You must always present the original Hygiene Passport (either the card part or the paper certificate part) in accordance with the Finnish Food Authority's model in all situations. Both parts are of equal value.
In addition to food industry operators, a Hygiene Passport may be required by, for example, educational institutions and entrepreneurs in other sectors.
A Hygiene Passport cannot be proven, for example,
- copies or pictures taken from the Hygiene Passport
- the series of numbers on the Hygiene Passport
- the test date information or the final score information obtained from the test
- by proof provided by a Hygiene Passport Examiner that you have participated in a test organized by the Examiner and passed the test
- on the basis of a qualification or education. If the qualification states that it includes hygiene competence studies, it does not replace the Hygiene Passport.
Under food legislation, an employee working on food premises must have food hygiene proficiency. This means that they must be able to work hygienically in their tasks. It is the employer’s duty to guide and advise all employees about food hygiene, and provide training for them if necessary.
The employer is responsible for ensuring that all employees who require a Hygiene Passport have it. A food business operator can contact the food control authority in their municipality for more information.
Examples of Hygiene Passport requirements
The Finnish Food Authority has compiled a table with examples of tasks in which the employee needs a Hygiene Passport. The table also shows examples of tasks where no Hygiene Passport is needed.