Food Safety Records in Sweden: Laws, Inspections and Egenkontroll

Swedish food safety records explained: Livsmedelslag, municipal inspections, egenkontroll, the records inspectors ask for, common failures and digital records.

2026-10-31 · Chef Hygiene

Do food businesses in Sweden need food safety records? Yes. Every food business in Sweden must run a self-check system (egenkontroll): basic hygiene routines plus procedures based on HACCP. Your municipality inspects, usually without warning. Sweden has no national rating or sticker, and no law that sets restaurant temperatures. This page explains the Swedish 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. Numbers from the Food Agency's Kontrollwiki or from Visita, the restaurant industry's guide, are guidance, not law.

## Contents

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

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

The main laws. The Food Act (Livsmedelslag 2006:804), the Food Ordinance (Livsmedelsförordning 2006:813) and EU Regulation 852/2004 on food hygiene. The Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) publishes the national rules and guidance (Livsmedelsverket).
Register before you start. Before you start, your business must be registered or approved by the control authority that will later inspect you. For most restaurants, cafés and shops, that is the municipality (Register or approve a business, Livsmedelsverket). A restaurant needs registration, not approval. You send a written notice to the municipality and may start when you are registered, or 2 weeks after your notice arrived (LIVSFS 2022:8, 9 §).
Fines for not registering. Starting without notifying the municipality can bring a sanction fee of 1% of yearly turnover, at least SEK 5,000 and at most SEK 75,000. A new owner who does not tell the municipality pays 0.5%, from SEK 2,500 to SEK 40,000 (Livsmedelsförordning 39 c and 39 d §§).
Self-check (egenkontroll). Every food business needs basic hygiene routines plus procedures based on HACCP (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5). There is no required format, and no more paperwork than the business needs (Livsmedelsverket: egenkontroll).
Temperatures: guidance, not law. No Swedish law sets restaurant temperatures. The numbers below are guidance from Livsmedelsverket and Visita. Never call them "the law".
Fridge: aim for 4°C. Visita gives 0 to 8°C, and above 8°C the risk rises sharply. Mince 4°C. Fresh fish fillet on ice or 2°C. A colder label on the product wins.
Freezer: -18°C. Quick-frozen food may rise briefly to -15°C (LIVSFS 2006:12, 5 §).
Cooking: 70°C in the centre is the usual value.
Fish that may carry parasites: 60°C in the centre for 1 minute, or freeze it first at -20°C for 24 hours or -35°C for 15 hours. This one is law (Regulation 853/2004).
Hot holding: 60°C or hotter is the guide value, or 2 hours at most. Hot food held over 2 hours and under 50°C is thrown away; otherwise it is reheated to above 70°C.
Cooling: from 60°C to 8°C within 6 hours. Visita says to measure it every time and throw the food away if it fails.
Staff training. There is no hygiene certificate, no set hours and no renewal. Livsmedelsverket says there is no requirement that a person has taken a specific hygiene course. The owner must make sure staff know enough, and instruction and supervision can be enough (Regulation 852/2004, Annex II; Kontrollwiki 351). Inspectors check allergen knowledge.
Staff who are ill. Anyone with a disease that can spread through food, infected wounds or diarrhoea must not handle food. They must tell the employer at once, and you need a routine for this (Kontrollwiki 345). No Swedish law sets a time to stay away. Visita advises 2 days after the symptoms stop for norovirus and rotavirus, and not until free of the infection for Salmonella, Shigella or EHEC.
Allergens. The 14 EU allergens must be covered. For food that is not prepacked, you must always give the allergen information, or a notice that it is available, even if nobody asks (LIVSFS 2014:4).
The information can be given orally, on a sign by the food, on written material or on the menu.
If it is given only on request, you must make clear how to get it, for example a sign such as "Fråga oss om allergena ingredienser", or by telling each guest (Kontrollwiki 49).
Allergen information for guests must be in Swedish (LIVSFS 2014:4, 5 §).
If a guest's allergy is noted in advance (for example in schools or for regular guests), answering on request is enough.
Delivery and phone orders. Livsmedelsverket says a phone order for home delivery counts as food packed at the consumer's request, so it is non-prepacked food. The consumer is entitled to information before the purchase is concluded and at delivery (Kontrollwiki 51).
Where the meat comes from. From 1 March 2025, restaurants must give, or offer, the country of rearing for beef, pork, sheep, goat and poultry used as an ingredient, orally or in writing (LIVSFS 2014:4, 11 a-c §§). Valid to the end of 2026 unless extended. We could not confirm what happens after 2026.

## 2. Who inspects you, and how often

The municipality. The municipality's environment and health committee (miljö- och hälsoskyddsnämnden) inspects restaurants, cafés and shops (Livsmedelslag 2006:804, 11 §). Livsmedelsverket leads and coordinates the control. The county boards (länsstyrelserna) support and audit the municipalities (Kontrollwiki 60).
Unannounced. Controls are unannounced as the rule (Regulation 2017/625, Article 9(4); Kontrollwiki 1039).
How often (guidance). It depends on a risk class, from SL1 to SL8, which means from 1 to 25 controls every 5 years. The official example, a small restaurant with 5 staff, is class SL4: about 1 control a year (Kontrollwiki 754 and 766). Good compliance can move you one class lower, but never below 1 control every 5 years.
You pay by the hour. The business pays after each control, at its municipality's hourly rate. As one example, Jönköping's 2026 rate is SEK 1,670 an hour.
After a deviation. You get a control report and about 2 weeks to comment or fix the problem. Then the municipality can give an order, which can carry a conditional fine (vite), or a ban or temporary closure. You can appeal to the county board (Kontrollwiki 303 and 305).

## 3. No national rating, but public reports

No national rating. Sweden has no national rating, sticker or smiley, and no duty to show a result. A voluntary trial law was proposed and then withdrawn in 2006.
National result words. Each control result is reported as "Utan avvikelse" (no deviation) or "Avvikelse" (deviation). At the follow-up, a deviation is "Åtgärdad" (put right), "Kvarstår" (still there) or "Avskriven" (written off).
Some municipalities publish results. Each does it in its own way. Uppsala's "Livsmedelskollen" shows the last 5 controls for each business. Jönköping has a web map: green means no faults, yellow means deviations. Stockholm has a Livsmedelskollen app.
Reports are public on request. The Supreme Administrative Court has held that secrecy does not apply to restaurant inspection results (RÅ 1997 ref. 21).

## 4. The records inspectors ask for

The law asks for a self-check system that fits your business. It does not give a list of forms. Visita's guide says written records are required only for traceability and critical control points; the owner decides the rest. In practice, kitchens usually keep:

Fridge and freezer temperatures.
Cooking, cooling and reheating temperatures, and hot-holding or cold-display checks.
Deliveries: the temperature when goods arrive.
Cleaning routines and records of what was done.
Staff training and the yearly review of each person's training need.
Allergen information for every dish, and the way you give it to guests.
Traceability: who you bought from and, where needed, who you sold to.
The food safety plan itself, reviewed when the menu or the kitchen changes.

How long to keep them. No Swedish text sets a number of years. Livsmedelsverket says a "reasonably long period" (Kontrollwiki 476). Ask your municipality.

## 5. Where businesses go wrong

Common record problems are easy to picture:

Not registering. Starting without notifying the municipality can bring a sanction fee, and so can a new owner who forgets to tell it.
A plan that does not match the kitchen.
No action recorded. A fridge reading above 8°C with nothing written about what was done.
Lost or damaged pages. Paper gets wet, greasy or thrown away.
Training not shown. Staff were trained, but nothing proves it. Inspectors check allergen knowledge.
Allergens only in someone's head. If information is given only on request, a sign or a word to each guest must say how to get it.

## 6. By type of business

The rules are the same for every food business, but the records you keep depend on what you do. Livsmedelsverket's wiki has a section on mobile businesses. We could not read its text, so we do not describe separate rules for vans or stalls. Ask your municipality.

Restaurant: register with the municipality, cooking and hot-holding temperatures, cooling, deliveries, cleaning, and allergen information for every dish. Country of rearing for meat, until the end of 2026.
Takeaway: the same as a restaurant, plus allergen information before a phone or app order is concluded and at delivery.
Café: fridges and displays, cleaning, and allergen information for sandwiches, cakes and salads.
Bakery / dessert shop: allergen records for every product, display and freezer temperatures, and allergens for toppings and sauces.
Pub / bar / club: the same as a restaurant for the food you serve.
Community hall / venue: if you serve food as a business, register and keep temperature and cleaning records for each event. We could not confirm a separate rule for occasional events, so ask your municipality.
Corner shop: fridge and freezer checks, delivery checks, and allergen information for loose food you sell or pack yourself.
School / nursery kitchen: temperature and cleaning records and careful allergen records for every child. If a child's allergy is noted in advance, answering on request is enough.
Caterer / food van: register, keep temperatures in transport and at the event, and keep your records with you. We could not confirm the details for mobile businesses.
Home kitchen business: we could not confirm a separate rule for home kitchens. Ask your municipality whether you need to register. Keep the same kind of records.

## 7. Why digital records help in Sweden

No fixed format. The law does not require paper. It requires a self-check system that works, so a digital system can do the job. We could not find a Livsmedelsverket page that speaks directly about digital records, so ask your municipality if you are unsure.
No gaps go unnoticed. A missed check shows up the same day, not at the next control.
Problems come with their fix. When a reading is out of range, the record can ask what you did about it.
Ready for the inspector. Controls are unannounced, so you can show everything at once instead of looking for folders.

## 8. How Chef Hygiene helps

Chef Hygiene follows the Swedish rules, Livsmedelsverket guidance and the Visita guide:

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.
Your country's rules built in, such as the 4°C and 8°C fridge values, 60°C hot holding and the 6-hour cooling rule.
Food safety plan. About 20 minutes: answer questions, check each method, sign it, set a review date and print it.
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, officer and the result in the national words, "Utan avvikelse" or "Avvikelse".
Practice inspection. A free walk round of about 10 minutes, with questions for your type of business, a "Put it right" list and a likely result in Sweden's own words.
Allergen chart and labels. Every dish against the 14 allergens, a staff view on the kitchen tablet, and labels for food prepacked for direct sale, with allergens in bold.
Staff training records.
Inspector pack. Print all your records as one pack, or share them by secure link.
40 languages. The app works in Swedish and English, among many others, so staff can use it in their own language.

## 9. A fair price, on purpose

Chef Hygiene costs about €2.99 a month per site (about €1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops), shown in Swedish kronor 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 their inspections.

## 10. Less paper

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 nothing to store in a back office.

## 11. FAQ

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

You need a self-check system (egenkontroll) with basic hygiene routines and HACCP-based procedures (Regulation 852/2004, Article 5). There is no required format. Written records are required for traceability and critical control points, and the owner decides the rest (Visita).

### Who inspects restaurants in Sweden?

The municipality's environment and health committee. Livsmedelsverket leads and coordinates the control, and the county boards support and audit the municipalities.

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

Yes. You register with the control authority that will inspect you, usually the municipality, before you start. A restaurant needs registration, not approval, and may start when registered or 2 weeks after the notice arrived.

### Are inspections announced?

Usually not. Controls are unannounced as the rule.

### How often will I be inspected?

It depends on your risk class. The official example for a small restaurant is about 1 control a year. This is guidance, and good compliance can lower it.

### Is there a hygiene rating in Sweden?

No. There is no national rating, sticker or smiley, and no duty to display a result. Some municipalities publish results in their own way, and reports are public on request.

### What do the result words mean?

"Utan avvikelse" means no deviation. "Avvikelse" means a deviation. At the follow-up it is "Åtgärdad", "Kvarstår" or "Avskriven".

### What happens after a deviation?

You get a control report and about 2 weeks to answer. Then the municipality can give an order, which can carry a conditional fine (vite), or a ban or temporary closure.

### Are digital food safety records accepted?

The law requires a working self-check system, not paper. We could not find a Livsmedelsverket page about digital records, so ask your municipality if you are unsure.

### How long must I keep my records?

No Swedish text sets a number of years. Livsmedelsverket says a "reasonably long period". Ask your municipality.

### What temperature must my fridge be?

No Swedish law sets a number. Livsmedelsverket advises 4°C and Visita gives 0 to 8°C. Above 8°C the risk rises sharply.

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

Guidance: 60°C or hotter, or 2 hours at most. Hot food held over 2 hours and under 50°C is thrown away; otherwise it is reheated to above 70°C.

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

No. There is no certificate, set hours or renewal. The owner must make sure staff know enough; instruction and supervision can be enough.

### What allergen information do I need?

For food that is not prepacked, you must always give the allergen information or a notice that it is available, in Swedish. It can be oral, on a sign, on written material or on the menu. If it is only on request, show how to get it.

### Can staff work when they are ill?

Not with a disease that can spread through food, infected wounds or diarrhoea. They must tell you at once. No law sets a time away; Visita advises 2 days after symptoms stop for norovirus and rotavirus.

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

About €2.99 a month per site, or about €1.99 for bakeries, dessert shops and corner shops, shown in Swedish kronor in your app store. Unlimited staff, no contract, 14-day free trial.

## 12. Official sources

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

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