Hygiene Passport

Unfortunately there will be no more hygiene proficiency passport tests this spring. The test dates starting from August will be announced here, on our website soon.

However, it’s good to know that you still have time to obtain a hygiene passport if it is required for your summer job. According to the Finnish Food Safety Authority’s instructions, a hygiene passport must be obtained no later than three months after you have started work in a position where a hygiene passport is mandatory. The three months also include previous periods of work in the food industry where a hygiene passport was required.

If your employment consists of short periods, all these periods are added together. If the total working time is less than three months, you do not yet need a hygiene passport. This means that you can work in a food premises for 3 months without a hygiene passport, even if you handle unpackaged, easily perishable foodstuffs.

See you in August!

Target group

Hygiene Passport is required, if

• one handles unpacked, easily perishable food and
• one works in food premises (e.g. cafés, restaurants, industrial kitchens, fastfood restaurants, food stores and institutional kitchens, bakeries and factories that produce foodstuffs)

What is hygiene proficiency?

Food hygiene proficiency refers to mastering the basics of food hygiene, continuous maintaining and updating of the related knowledge and skills, and taking care of the up-to-date changes related to the food hygiene of the field/place/activity, as part of the self-supervision of the organisation.

Statutes and regulations concerning food hygiene proficiency

• Euroopan unionin yleinen elintarvikehygienia-asetus (852/2004/EU) liite II luku 12 kohta 1
  European Union Regulation on the hygiene of foodstuffs (852/2004/EU) Annex II, Chapter 12, paragraph 1

• Elintarvikelaki (297/2021) Foodstuffs legislation
• Lainsäädäntö ja ohjeet – RuokavirastoLegislation and regulation – Finnish Food Authority

The sectors of food hygiene:

• Perustiedot mikrobiologiasta ja elintarvikkeiden saastumisesta (kontaminaatiosta)
  Basic information on microbiology and contamination of foodstuffs
• Ruokamyrkytykset, hygieeniset työtavat Food poisoning, hygiene ways of working
• PuhtaanapitoSanitation
• Henkilökohtainen hygieniaPersonal hygiene
• OmavalvontaSelf-supervision/monitoring
• Lainsäädäntö, viranomaisetLegislation, authorities

Webmaterial

Ruokaa hygieniseesti -opiskelijan digiharjoitukset
Making food hygienically -digital exercises for student

Tietoa elintarvikehygieniasta (Ruokavirasto)
Information of foodstuff hygiene (Finnish Food Authority)

Additional infromation concerning hygiene passport can be found in the web page of the Finnish Food Authority

Hygieniapassitesti Hygiene Passport Test
Lupa kokata -oppilasmateriaali License/permit to cook – student material
Harjoittele ennen hygieniapassitestiin menoa! (maksullinen)Practice before going to the test! (fee included)

Also in English
Food hygiene proficiency test is also available in English for request 2-3 days before the test date. You can study from: Studies/training before the Hygiene Passport test – Finnish Food Authority (ruokavirasto.fi

Price

Organization participants (e.g. company personnel) and private individuals: The Hygiene Passport test is 70 €/participant (incl. VAT 24 %). Invoice is sent after the test by VAAOkoulutus Oy.

For VAAO students and students studying at the Valkeakoski-campus Tietotie upper secondary school and in Häme University of Applied Sciences HAMK, the test fee is 30 € (as of 1.1.2024). The fee is paid prior to the test either to the account FI05 5494 0920 0177 30/OKOYFIHH (take the receipt with you to the test) or it can be paid when coming to the test to the VAAO cafeteria counter in Väinölä-building 2^nd floor. When using the account payment, please include the name of the participant, the test in question, the school you represent and your field of study, if relevant.

Registration

One should register for the training no later than one (1) day before the beginning of the training.

Important – please note

Participants arrive to the test according to registration, no separate invitation is sent by the organizer. VAAO only notifies, if the test is cancelled.
Participants gather to Valkeakosken ammattiopisto / Valkeakoski Vocational College,
address: Vanhankyläntie 2, 37630 Valkeakoski, Main building (Väinölä), 2^nd floor hall.

One must prove his/her identity when arriving to the test. The following original, valid documents including a photo, are accepted as identity cards:

• Finnish identity card
• Finnish passport
• Finnish driver’s license and moped license
• Finnish Kela-card with a photo
• foreign identity card
• foreign passport
• alien’s passport (accepted only when there is no remark that the document holder’s identity has not been reliably recognized/proven)
• refugee travel document (accepted only when there is no remark that the document holder’s identity has not been reliably recognized/proven)
• document assigned by an authority (police/border guard) including a passport copy, authority stamp and notification that the passport is indefinitely in the authority’s possession. This document can temporarily be used for proving one’s identity.
• residence permit card granted by immigration office for refugees, asylum seekers or other immigrants.

Testing place

Valkeakosken ammattiopisto / Valkeakoski Vocational College, Vanhankyläntie 2, 37630 Valkeakoski, Väinölä-buiding, 2^nd floor, café/info desk area, from where the test organizer leads the participants to the classroom.

Location

Google Maps

VAAO Campus

Organiser

Test is organised by VAAOkoulutus Oy

Further information

Sari Grönroos, Teacher, Business

Sari.gronroos@vaao.fi, +358447061065

Mikko Siirilä , Head of Division, Welfare and Business

mikko.siirila@vaao.fi, 358449060305