Temporary sales and mobile food premises
Notification of food sales
Temporary sales, and outdoor sales in particular, often involve more risks than similar operations indoors in permanent food premises.
The operator must ensure product safety in all conditions, and responsibility cannot by avoided by citing the conditions. If the operations involve special risks, e.g. perishable food is handled, this must be taken into consideration in the requirements and control for the conditions. The food control authority has the final say in whether the operations meet the requirements.
Selling and serving food without a notification
A private individual, an association or similar does not need to submit a notification about temporary and low-risk sales or serving of food, such as grilling sausages, serving coffee or selling biscuits.
Similarly, pop-up restaurant activities are possible on some conditions.
In addition to this, private individuals may sell berries, mushrooms and herbs at their home or at a market or deliver them to local retailers. Persons growing plants for home consumption can also sell their products without a notification.
Environmental Health Services’ instructions for temporary sales
Please read the Porvoo Environmental Health Services’ instructions for temporary sales before selling or serving products.
Professional operator
Sales from a mobile sales point require that the operations be registered, i.e. Food Control is notified of the operations.
Once the movable food premises is registered with the Food Control in the municipality of residence, the operator may also engage in sales/serving in other locations in suitable outdoor sales areas. The activity must be authorised by the landowner. Food control authorities in other regions must be informed no later than four working days in advance.
In the area monitored by Porvoo Environmental Health Services (Askola, Pornainen, Sipoo, Myrskylä, Porvoo, Pukkila, Loviisa and Lapinjärvi), the notification can be made using the ‘Notification of food sales’ form.
If you run registered permanent food premises, such as a restaurant, in the region of Porvoo Environmental Health Services and you wish to also serve food elsewhere, please contact your local health inspector.
Large public events
A large public event is one where at least 500 visitors are expected to attend at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions About Temporary Food Sales
How do I notify authorities about my sales if I operate a registered mobile food premises?
If your mobile food premises is registered with the food control authority in your home municipality, you may sell and serve food in other municipalities as well.
The food control authority in the area where the activity will take place must be notified no later than four working days before sales or service begin.
Within the operating area of Porvoo Environmental Health (Askola, Lapinjärvi, Loviisa, Myrskylä, Pornainen, Pukkila, Porvoo and Sipoo), sales activities can be reported using the food sales notification form.
The completed form should be sent by email to: ymparistoterveydenhuolto@porvoo.fi
If your mobile food premises has not yet been registered, instructions can be found on page:
Can I sell or serve food at an event as a private individual or as an association?
A private individual or an association may sell or serve low-risk food products, such as coffee, biscuits, or industrially produced sausages grilled on site. Such activities do not require notification to the food control authority.
However, the activity must comply with the guidelines for temporary food sales. These guidelines can be found on the Environmental Health Care Forms and Instructions page under “Selling food at events and other temporary occasions”:
Pop-up restaurant activities are also permitted under certain conditions. The activity must not constitute a commercial business, and a pop-up restaurant may operate for a maximum of 12 days during a calendar year.
Pop-up restaurant activities should be designed to minimize food safety risks. The safest approach is to prepare or heat food on site using fresh or pre-processed ingredients. Therefore, the activity must not include pre-cooking food at home by heating it or packaging food for later use.
Customers must be clearly informed that the activity is a pop-up restaurant.
Further information:
Who is responsible for notifying the authorities about food sales at an event?
The food business operator is generally responsible for submitting notifications and providing information about their own activities. Operators engaged in professional food sales or food handling must notify the food control authority of their activities no later than four working days before the event begins.
Notification of temporary food sales is made using the notification food sales form.
Alternatively, the event organizer may submit a list of participating food business operators to the food control authority.