Prerequisites for effective official food control

• Inspectors find their work hours insufficient for following up legislative changes.
• Inspectors' and heads of units' views on factors lowering work efficiency differ.
• Consistency of control operations may diminish due to tacit knowledge.
• Poor workplace atmosphere may be reflected in a lesser quality of controls.

We studied the prerequisites for official food control and their relation to the quality of controls by using 17 Finnish municipal food control units as our sample. Based on our results, units invest in creating adequate working conditions through the provision of guidance papers, pre forma templates and possibilities for staff to collectively hold discussions. However, poor orientation, tacit knowledge and incomplete commitment among staff to quality systems remain as challenges in the units. Insufficient human resources and the inability of heads of food control units to recognize problems in the workplace setting may impair the functional capacity of units. Poor workplace atmosphere and weaknesses in organization of work may also be reflected in food businesses operators' lesser appreciation toward official food controls.