Food Safety Records in Slovenia: Laws, Inspections and Records

Slovenia food safety records explained: ZVHK, UVHVVR inspections, public bans, the records inspectors ask for, common failures and how digital records help.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Slovenia need food safety records? Yes. Every food business must run permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, in proportion to its size (Law on Safe Food and Feed, ZVHK, Article 36). Food inspectors of the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection (UVHVVR) check food businesses and can ask to see your records. Slovenia has no national hygiene rating or sticker, but a ban for danger to life or health is published online for at least 60 days. This page explains the Slovenian rules, what inspectors look for, where businesses go wrong, and how digital records help.

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Every fact below comes from an official source, linked in the text and at the end. Where the law sets no number and a number comes from guidance, we say so. The app works in Slovenian, so staff can use it in their own language.

## Contents

The law: what every Slovenian food business must do
Who inspects you, and how often
No rating, but public bans
The records inspectors ask for
Where businesses go wrong
By type of business
Why digital records help in Slovenia
How Chef Hygiene helps
A fair price, on purpose
Less paper
FAQ
Official sources

## 1. The law: what every Slovenian food business must do

The main law. The Law on Safe Food and Feed (ZVHK) together with EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene (ZVHK on PISRS).
Register each premises. Register every premises with UVHVVR at least 15 days before opening, and report changes within 15 days (ZVHK, Article 24).
A HACCP-based system. Permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, in proportion to the size of the business (ZVHK, Article 36; Regulation 852/2004, Article 5).
Traceability. Keep records of supplier, product and date (ZVHK, Article 23).
Temperatures: guidance, not law. No Slovenian law sets restaurant fridge, hot-holding, cooling or reheating numbers. The numbers below come from the national catering guide (December 2010), as printed in NIJZ staff texts (NIJZ). They are guidance:
Chilled storage and goods-in: below 5°C, or as the label says. Some NIJZ lines say below 4°C for raw food and cooked cold dishes.
Frozen food: -18°C or colder. For quick-frozen food this is law, with short rises of up to 3°C allowed (Rulebook 87/14, Article 5).
Cooking, core temperature for 15 seconds: 74°C for poultry pieces, game, stuffings and dishes with minced-meat stuffing; 68°C for pork and minced or chopped meat; 63°C for beef, veal, lamb, fish, eggs, dairy, rice and pasta.
Hot holding: 63°C or hotter in the core. Below that, reheat or throw the food away. Serve within 2 hours of cooking, and never after 4 hours.
Cooling in two stages: from 63°C to 20°C within 2 hours, then to 5°C within 4 more hours.
Reheating: 74°C for 15 seconds.
Cold display and salad bars: under 3 hours. Very sensitive dishes such as tartare and cream cakes stay at 5 to 8°C. Write down when the food was put out.
Staff training. Slovenia has no national food hygiene certificate, course length or renewal. EU law applies: the operator must supervise, instruct and train staff to suit their work (Regulation 852/2004, Annex II).
Staff who are ill. Before the first day, each worker signs a consent to report illness and fills in a symptom declaration. The employer keeps them with a staff list for inspectors (Rulebook 82/03). A worker with vomiting, diarrhoea, jaundice, pus-filled skin lesions or discharge from the eyes, ears or nose must stop food work and tell the manager at once. There is no routine yearly medical exam or health card. NIJZ outbreak guidance is to stay away for 48 hours after symptoms stop for most infections. That is guidance.
Allergens. In catering, allergen information must be in writing, in at least one of the places where dishes are offered: menu, board, poster or screen. It must be easy to see, readable and not covered (Decree 6/2014, Article 3). We found no oral-only option in the text. SPOT guidance is to use the word "vsebuje" plus the allergen name, for the 14 EU allergens, and this also applies to drinks (SPOT). Food information must be in Slovene (ZVHK, Article 51).
Fines. Under Decree 6/2014, Article 4, an allergen breach is fined EUR 6,000 to 30,000 for a company and EUR 3,000 to 6,000 for a sole trader (Uradni list). Under ZVHK Article 109, breaches such as premises or own checks not meeting the conditions, no traceability or no registration are fined EUR 2,000 to 20,000 for a company and EUR 1,000 to 10,000 for a sole trader.

## 2. Who inspects you, and how often

UVHVVR food inspectors. They check food law in all phases of the food chain, from 10 regional offices (UVHVVR).
How often. The control plan 2025 to 2029 sets how often by risk. A restaurant, inn or snack bar with more than 10 staff is checked about every 18 months. With fewer than 10 staff, or a café or pastry shop with its own production, about every 30 months.
What they look at. Staff skill is a focus of the 2025 to 2029 plan. Inspectors may test knowledge on the spot. Causes of closures reported by UVHVVR include dirty kitchens, frozen food with no traceability, missing own-check papers, unregistered premises and wrong allergen information.
After a visit. For small faults the inspector gives an oral warning with a deadline, then a decision. If the fault is not fixed in time, or at once if there is direct danger to life or health, the inspector can ban the activity and seal the premises.

## 3. No rating, but public bans

No rating. There is no national rating, sticker or duty to display an inspection result.
Public bans. A ban for danger to life or health, or for fraud, is published online (name, address, date, reason) and stays online at least 60 days (ZVHK, Article 18).
What this means for you. There is no score to improve, but a published ban is public. Good records show an inspector that your system works every day, which helps you avoid reaching that point.

## 4. The records inspectors ask for

The law asks for records that fit the nature and size of your business. In Slovenia that usually means:

Your HACCP-based procedures and the papers that show your own checks.
Traceability records of supplier, product and date.
Fridge and freezer temperatures. NIJZ guidance is to log them at least once a day at the start of work, with corrective actions.
Cooking, hot-holding and cooling checks where you use the guide numbers above.
Cleaning records.
Allergen information for every dish, in Slovene.
Staff records. The signed illness consent and symptom declaration for every worker, and a staff list, for inspectors (Rulebook 82/03).

How long to keep them. The law does not give one number for every record. NIJZ advises keeping traceability records usually 2 years, and 6 months after the use-by date for perishable or unpacked food. This is guidance.

## 5. Where businesses go wrong

Gaps. Days with no checks written down.
Missing own-check papers. UVHVVR lists this among the reasons for closures.
No traceability. Frozen food with no record of where it came from.
A plan that doesn't match the kitchen. Procedures on paper that staff do not follow.
No action recorded. A reading above the guide number with nothing written about what was done.
Allergens wrong or missing. The information is not written at any place where dishes are offered, or not in Slovene.
Staff paperwork missing. No illness consent or symptom declaration on file.
Not registered, or changes not reported. Failing to register, or to report a change within 15 days, is a breach of the ZVHK.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.

## 6. By type of business

The rules are the same for every food business, but the records you keep depend on what you do.

Restaurant: HACCP-based procedures, daily fridge checks, cooking and hot-holding temperatures, cooling, goods-in and traceability, cleaning, and written allergen information for every dish.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant. We could not confirm a separate Slovenian rule for delivery orders, so ask UVHVVR.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and allergen information on the menu or board. A café with its own production is on the longer inspection cycle (about every 30 months).
Bakery / cake shop: allergen information for every product, display temperatures for cream cakes (guide: 5 to 8°C for very sensitive dishes), and traceability of ingredients.
Dessert shop: fridge and freezer temperatures (guide: -18°C or colder for frozen food), and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same records as a restaurant for food you serve. SPOT guidance says allergen information applies to drinks too, even in drinks-only bars.
Community hall / venue: if you serve food as a business, register the premises with UVHVVR and keep temperature, cleaning and allergen records for each event. We could not confirm a separate rule for occasional events, so ask UVHVVR.
Corner shop / grocery: fridge and freezer checks, goods-in and traceability. The shop labelling rulebook (66/16) does not apply to catering, so check which rules apply to you.
School / nursery kitchen: temperature and cleaning records, and careful allergen records for every child. We found no separate official school-kitchen page, so the general rules apply.
Caterer / food van: register the premises or vehicle, and keep temperatures during transport and at the event. We could not confirm a separate mobile-business route, so ask UVHVVR.
Home kitchen business: we could not confirm a separate official rule for home kitchens. Ask UVHVVR before you start; the general rules above (registration, HACCP-based procedures, allergens) apply to food sold to others.

## 7. Why digital records help in Slovenia

Accepted in the EU. The European Commission's guidance on HACCP flexibility (notice 2022/C 355/01) supports records in the form that suits the business. We could not find a separate Slovenian page that says the same, so ask your inspector if you are unsure.
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed check shows up the same day, not at the next inspection.
Problems come with their fix. When a reading is out of range, the record can ask what you did about it.
Nothing is lost. No wet, greasy or missing pages.
Ready for the inspector. You can show everything at once, instead of looking for folders.
Every staff member can take part. Staff can record checks on a phone or tablet, in their own language.

## 8. How Chef Hygiene helps

Chef Hygiene follows the Slovenian rules and guidance described above. What it does:

Daily checks for fridges, freezers, cooking, hot holding, cooling, cleaning and deliveries, with the time, the staff member's name and photos. Saved records cannot be changed; corrections are added as new records.
Your country's rules built in, such as the Slovenian guide temperatures and the allergen rule.
Food safety plan ("safe methods"). About 20 minutes: answer questions, check each method, sign it, set a review date and print it. Earlier versions are kept.
Ready for inspection? Checks your last 4 weeks of records the way an inspector would and shows how many are ready.
Inspector's visits log. Write down each visit: date, type and officer.
Practice inspection. A free walk round of about 10 minutes, with questions for your type of business, showing the likely result in Slovenia, and a "Put it right" list.
Allergen chart and labels. Every dish against the 14 allergens, a staff view on the kitchen tablet, and labels, with allergens in bold.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages. Staff can use the app in their own language, including Slovenian.

## 9. A fair price, on purpose

Chef Hygiene costs €2.99 a month per site (€1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops); the exact price is shown in your app store; unlimited staff, no contract, 14-day free trial.

We keep the price low on purpose. We want as many food businesses as possible, from a single food van to a busy restaurant, to keep good records and pass inspections.

## 10. Less paper

A paper diary means printed sheets every day. One daily sheet per kitchen is 365 sheets a year, before you count delivery forms, cleaning rotas and training records. Digital records mean no record books to buy and fewer printed forms to throw away. That is less paper and less waste, and nothing to store in a back office.

## 11. FAQ

### Do I legally need food safety records in Slovenia?

Yes. You need permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, in proportion to the size of your business (ZVHK, Article 36), and traceability records (Article 23).

### Who inspects restaurants in Slovenia?

UVHVVR food inspectors, from 10 regional offices.

### Do I have to register before I open?

Yes. Register each premises with UVHVVR at least 15 days before opening, and report changes within 15 days (ZVHK, Article 24).

### How often are food businesses inspected?

By risk, under the 2025 to 2029 control plan. A restaurant, inn or snack bar with more than 10 staff is checked about every 18 months. With fewer than 10 staff, or a café or pastry shop with its own production, about every 30 months.

### Is there a hygiene rating in Slovenia?

No. There is no national rating, sticker or duty to display a result.

### Are bans published?

Yes. A ban for danger to life or health, or for fraud, is published online and stays at least 60 days.

### What can an inspector do after a visit?

Give a warning with a deadline, issue a decision, and if the fault is not fixed in time (or at once for direct danger) ban the activity and seal the premises.

### Are digital food safety records accepted?

EU guidance supports records in a form that suits the business. We could not find a Slovenian page that says so directly, so ask your inspector if you are unsure.

### How long must I keep my records?

The law gives no single number. NIJZ advises usually 2 years for traceability records, and 6 months after the use-by date for perishable or unpacked food. That is guidance.

### What temperature must my fridge be?

No Slovenian law sets a number. The national catering guide says below 5°C for chilled food; some NIJZ lines say below 4°C for raw food and cooked cold dishes.

### What temperature must hot food be kept at?

Guide: 63°C or hotter in the core. Serve within 2 hours of cooking, and never after 4 hours.

### What temperature should I cook food to?

Guide: 74°C for poultry and stuffed dishes, 68°C for pork and minced meat, 63°C for beef, fish, eggs, rice and pasta, each for 15 seconds at the core.

### Do my staff need a food hygiene certificate?

No national certificate exists. The operator must supervise, instruct and train staff to suit their work.

### Do my staff need a health card?

No. There is no routine yearly medical exam or health card. Each worker signs an illness consent and fills in a symptom declaration before the first day, and you keep them with a staff list.

### Can staff work when they are ill?

Not with vomiting, diarrhoea, jaundice, pus-filled skin lesions or discharge from the eyes, ears or nose. They must stop food work and tell the manager. NIJZ guidance is 48 hours without symptoms for most infections.

### What allergen information do I need?

In catering, written information in at least one place where dishes are offered (menu, board, poster or screen), easy to see and readable, in Slovene (Decree 6/2014, Article 3).

### What are the fines for allergen failures?

EUR 6,000 to 30,000 for a company and EUR 3,000 to 6,000 for a sole trader (Decree 6/2014, Article 4).

### Does Chef Hygiene work in Slovenian?

Yes. The app works in Slovenian and 39 other languages.

### How much does Chef Hygiene cost in Slovenia?

€2.99 a month per site (€1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops); the exact price is shown in your app store; unlimited staff, no contract, 14-day free trial.

## 12. Official sources

Chef Hygiene keeps your Slovenian food safety records ready for every inspection:

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

Get it from Microsoft

Use it in your browser