The Finnish hygiene passport system has been used to test the food safety knowledge of persons handling unpacked easily perishable foods for almost 20 years, resulting in more than one million approved hygiene passports. However, information on the relevance of the hygiene passport system is very limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of performance of participants in the passport test and to determine the basic hygiene knowledge of laypersons and whether the test can be passed without any advance preparation. The study shows that the hygiene passport test is relevant; without the hygiene passport test, the level of food hygiene knowledge of especially young people aged under 20, would be significantly lower. The study identified several targets for development in the hygiene passport system. This study was led by the Finnish Food Authority and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Publications
Vaarala, A., Uusitalo, L., Lundén, J., Tuominen, P. 2021. The relevance of the Finnish Hygiene Passport test. Food Control. 130, 108254.
Meat inspection and control of slaughterhouses are important for food quality and safety as well as for animal health and welfare. Distribution of meat inspection and control tasks between authorities and slaughterhouses is relevant for the functionality of slaughterhouse control. The study focused on the functionality and developmental needs of the two main meat inspection models: red meat and poultry meat model. Research enables the development of the meat inspection models and the development of new models based on research knowledge. Collaborators were the Meat Research Institute (LTK) and slaughterhouses. The project was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and meat industry.
Publications
Luukkanen, J., Kotisalo, N., Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M., Lundén, J. 2015. Distribution and importance of meat inspection tasks in Finnish high-capacity slaughterhouses. Food Control. 57, 246-251.
Luukkanen, J., Lundén, J. 2016. Compliance in slaughterhouses and control measures applied by official veterinarians. Food Control. 68, 133-138.
Luukkanen, J., Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M., Nevas, M., Lundén, J. 2017. Prerequisites for high-quality official control in Finnish slaughterhouses. Food Control. 79, 50-56.
Luukkanen, J., Nevas, M., Fredriksson-Ahomaa, M., Lundén, J. 2018. Developing official control in slaughterhouses through internal audits. Food Control. 90, 344-351.