Food control strategies to support and enforce food business operators that repeatedly violate food safety legislation

Food business operators (FBOs) that repeatedly violate food safety legislation (repeat violators) represent a recurring health risk for consumers. Thus, special attention should be paid to the control of these FBOs. The aim of this study was to identify challenges in the control of repeat violators and understand the kind of control measures that are effective with these FBOs. Our hypothesis was that the risk management of repeat violators can be strengthened by various means. We received answers to our questionnaire from 95 food control inspectors from 30 of the 62 municipal food control units in Finland. Almost half the respondents reported having inspected more than five repeat violators during the last five years, and almost 80% of respondents considered them a fairly or extremely large problem for food safety. According to the inspectors we surveyed, the most commonly recurring non-compliances found during inspections of repeat violators were related to the performance of own-check, information provided on foods, and the cleanliness of facilities, surfaces, and equipment. The most frequent and difficult challenges experienced by inspectors in the food control of repeat violators were FBOs' lack of knowledge of legislative requirements and food hygiene risks. Only one fifth of respondents stated that the current methods for the control of repeat violators were sufficient and less than half reported having sufficient time for inspections or the provision of guidance. Inspectors suggested improvements for motivating FBOs to correct non-compliances, for example increasing FBOs’ understanding of hygienic hazards and legislation, and financial incentives. In addition, coercive measures should be used early enough in the process and inspectors should be supported in the use of these measures. • Inspectors considered repeat violators a problem for food safety. • Inspectors perceived current control methods for repeat violators to be insufficient. • Less than half the respondents had sufficient time for control actions. • Increasing FBOs' motivation for corrections was proposed as an improvement. • Some inspectors suggested making the enforcement process lighter.