Food control and monitoring
The purpose of food control is to ensure the safety of foodstuffs and the correctness of their quality and composition information.
Practical monitoring
Most food control measures are handled by the municipalities and organised by area of cooperation. Municipal food control authorities include veterinarians, health inspectors and other municipal food inspectors. Supervision of slaughterhouses and connected facilities, as well as meat inspections, are the responsibility of Evira.
Regional State Administrative Agencies direct municipal authorities
The Regional State Administrative Agency is charged with directing the food monitoring measures taken by municipalities. Its tasks include compliance assessments within the municipal food supervision units. The objective of these assessments is to improve municipal food control and to gather information on its compliance with the given requirements.
Evira leads and develops nationwide food control
The Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira leads and develops food supervision in all regions of Finland.
Customs
Customs supervises foodstuffs entering Finland from third party countries, with the exception of animal-based products, whose import is supervised by Evira.
Defence Forces
In areas owned by the Finnish Defence Forces, supervising the safety and compliance of foodstuffs is the responsibility of the Defence Forces.
Companies' self-monitoring
Companies are responsible for the safety of their own products. In-house monitoring is the basis for the supervision of their production. Consumers can help improve the quality of foodstuffs by staying alert and informing the municipal authorities of any deficiencies encountered.
