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.
    How to read the Oiva report

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.


Excellent: Operations are in line with the requirements.
Good: There are small issues with the operations which do not impair food safety or mislead consumers.
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.
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.

 

Muokattu 27.3.2020