Czechia: food inspections

Chef Hygiene follows the Czech Food Act (110/1997), the catering decree 121/2023 and the guidance hosted by SZPI, which inspects almost all restaurants and cafés.

Inspection body

Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (Státní zemědělská a potravinářská inspekce, SZPI)

SZPI (the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority, under the Ministry of Agriculture) inspects all open catering since 1 January 2025: restaurants, cafés, fast food, pubs, bars and delivery. The regional hygiene stations (KHS) keep only hospital, care, school and prison catering and children’s camps.

A visit can start with no notice: it begins when the inspector shows the authorisation on the spot. On the spot the inspector can order faults to be fixed, ban the use of the premises (closure) and have unsafe food destroyed. A failed re-check is paid by the operator. Fines go up to CZK 1, 3, 10 or 50 million, depending on the offence group (Food Act, § 17f).

Hygiene rating

There is no public rating, sticker or duty to show a result at the door. SZPI’s site potravinynapranyri.cz only lists premises it has closed (zákaz užívání prostor).