Temporary food sales

The sale or serving of low-risk food does not need to be reported to food control when the operator is a private person or the activity cannot be considered a business. This kind of activity is typically random and the quantities of food processed are small, such as e.g. food sales at school sales, a church coffee party or a sports club's sausage roast at a local match. However, the notification must be made if the activity is not low-risk (e.g. selling raw meat products, making and selling sushi, selling cold-smoked, vacuum-packed fish). You can report freely, for example by e-mail. If you are not sure whether the activity is low-risk, contact the Food Control Authority.

When selling and serving food, e.g. the legal requirements for storage temperatures, sales conditions and packaging labels. The Food Agency in the foreign sales instructions discusses the legislation regarding the regular and temporary handling, sale and serving of foodstuffs and its application in outdoor spaces. The instruction also applies to activities comparable to outdoor sales indoors, for example the sale of fruits, berries and mushrooms in the aisles of shopping centers.

Mobile food apartment - Professional operation

Mobile food apartment means a movable or temporary space, such as a mobile kiosk, sales cart, tent roof, stall or other mobile device. With the mobile food apartment, we travel to different locations and the operation is professional.

As a general rule, a notification of a mobile food apartment must be made to the authority in whose area the operation is started. The operator must inform the supervisory authorities of the municipalities in whose territory the activity is carried out about the sale and other processing of foodstuffs in the notified food premises. The information must be available to the supervisory authority no later than four business days before the start of the reported activity. Information can be handled by e.g. information on the mobile food apartment form.

Prepackaged foods must be labeled in accordance with the Food Act and its regulations. At the point of sale, the operator's name with contact information and the Oiva report must be clearly visible to customers.

The Food Agency's external sales instructions (pdf)