How to read the Oiva report
The Oiva report is a publicly displayed document received for an inspection carried out by the food control authorities on food premises. The report informs the consumer on observations made during the inspection, such as the company’s hygiene level and product safety. Oiva reports are mainly published as bilingual documents and usually in the A4 format.
The Oiva report indicates:
- Inspection results
- Results for inspected topical areas
- Oiva observation = a short written account of observations
- Since 2016, the number of inspected matters and their results in numbers, for example, Excellent 9 results, Good 1 result, etc.
The scale and results
There are four different evaluation emoticons in use: Excellent, Good, To be corrected and Poor. The wider the smile, the better the food safety issues have been taken into consideration in the relevant restaurant, store or industry operator. The result of the inspection is determined on the basis of the weakest grade issued for the inspected items. Thus, the report can contain several evaluations of Excellent, but one grade stating To be corrected, and the result of the inspection will in this case be To be corrected. Since 2016, the Oiva report’s result has been specified by adding the number of matters inspected and their grading in numbers to the report.
In order to obtain the best smile, you only need to adhere to the law. The reason why the inspection result is determined on the basis of the weakest grade is because food safety can already be compromised by one deficiency. Even one deficiency can be significant for a consumer. By also reviewing all the inspection results and reading all the Oiva observations, you can get a more detailed picture of a company’s level of food safety.
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Excellent: Operations are in line with the requirements. |
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Good: There are small issues with the operations which do not impair food safety or mislead consumers. |
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To be corrected: There are issues with the operations which impair food safety or mislead consumers. These issues must be rectified within a set period of time. |
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Poor: 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. |
If the inspected company has received an evaluation grade of To be corrected or Poor for a specific issue, the inspector will always carry out a new inspection in the company. After a repeat inspection, a new Oiva report will be published showing the possible changes in the grades.
Review all the grades instead of just the overall result
The Oiva report includes several emoticon grades, not just one emoticon. Emoticons are provided as results for all the inspected topical areas. Each topical area can include several inspected issues, but the weakest grade of the entire topical area will be displayed to the consumer. In addition, the report will display the result of the most recent inspection as well as the result of the two previous inspections, if such have been conducted.
The most recent inspection result will be determined on the basis of the weakest grade. The report can contain several smiling emoticons, even if one topical-area result would be shown as a less favourable emoticon. Comparisons with preceding results indicate any potential changes in the grades.
Quantity and result of inspected issues in numbers
Of inspections carried out since 2016, the Oiva report is accompanied with the quantity of inspected issues and their results in numbers, for example, Excellent 9 results, Good 1 result, etc. These numbers allow the companies which have received the same results to be differentiated at a quick glance.
Read the Oiva observations
During the inspection, the food inspector records a written Oiva observation on the report. The Oiva observation provides a short description of the observations made by the inspector on the inspected issues, such as “cleaning equipment in good condition”. The Oiva observations allow you to read in more detail why the given grade is not Excellent.
By reviewing all the inspection results and reading all the Oiva observations, you can get a more detailed picture of a company’s level of food safety.