🇫🇮

Food that has not been in a self-service buffet or counter, can be sold either above 60 °C or chilled below 6 °C. Cooling down shouldn't take more than 4 hours. Food should not be handed over to a customer in the middle of cooling but instead cooled until it's below 6 °C.

After you have cooled down the food, you can sell it the next day as well. This rule is applied also for grocery stores that are selling warm products over the service counter. You can also sell the food on the third day if you can prove for instance with shelf life studies that the food stays good. You can read more about this topic on the website of the Finnish Food Agency (in Finnish, apologies).

The food can be packed in a takeaway box before the cooling or it can be chilled in a larger container and packed afterward.

Food that has been served warm from a self-serving buffet should be sold warm at above 60 °C straight from the buffet, and not cooled down. There is no time limit for selling if the food has been served and stored at above 60 °C; then the selling condition must be assessed via the senses.

The food can be packed either before the pick-up or when the customer comes in for the pick-up, as long as the temperature stays at above 60 ˚C.
​

Food that has been stored or/and served cold (under 6 °C), like salads, sushi, and sandwiches, can be sold via ResQ while it's in good condition. This estimation is done by your staff when making the offer.

Cold food from a self-service buffet should be sold cold straight from the buffet.

If the food has been stored or/and served between 6-12 °C, it should be handed over to a customer in a 4-hour time window including the entire display time.

The ResQ food is stored at the required temperature until the customer shows up to pick it up.

Please note that some ingredients or food made with those ingredients have a lower than 6 ˚C storing and selling temperatures. Examples of lower temperature requirements:

For a more comprehensive list of temperature requirements, check these instructions at the Finnish Food Authority’s website.

Food stored at room temperature (e.g. bread) is sold through ResQ within its declared/estimated shelf life.

The ResQ food is stored either packaged or unpackaged until the customer shows up to pick it up.
​

Please note that easily perishable bakery products stored at room temperature (e.g. karelian pies or other pastries) must be sold within the same day and cannot even be sold refrigerated the following day. Read more on the Finnish Food Authority’s website.

According to Finnish Food Authority: a perishable bakery product made by heating refers to a product to which no ingredients are added AFTER the heating process.
​
Examples of such bakery products include various type of pies (such as meat pies or above-mentioned karelian pies).
​
Products like doughnuts, however, do not fall into this category, as an ingredient (sugar frosting) has been added to them after the initial heating process.

​If possible, we recommend adding information about ingredients that cause allergies and/or intolerances to the description of the offer. Please note that you need to be able to give further information about allergens and certain other details upon request.

Examples of common allergens:

Check a comprehensive list and more information about allergens on the Finnish Food Authority’s website.

If you specify so in your offer, a customer can bring their own take away box with them.

Remember to include ResQ sales in your self-regulation plan.

You can sell products that have damaged packaging as long as the packaging doesn't pose a threat for food safety (e.g. access to oxygen, light, contamination).
​
Products that have single packaging in addition to an outer layer packaging can be sold if the main packaging has been broken, but then the primary packaging needs to be intact.
​
For example, a multi-pack of nut bars in plastic wrapping packed in a carton box can be sold with a broken outer packaging, but the plastic wrappings need to be unbroken.
​
​❗️ If you're selling products with damaged packaging, it's good to mention this in the ResQ offer description.

ResQ customers need to know in advance if the food has been stored in the freezer. Most foods cannot be frozen twice. Since frozen food might defrost during pickup, customers cannot store the food after pickup.
​
Hence, if you are selling items that have been frozen, you need to mention this in the offer name or description!

If the product, on the other hand, has been frozen at some point during the production process, for example, if the meatballs served in a lunch buffet have come frozen and have been prepared for lunch by heating or cooking, it is not necessary to mention the freezing.

Frozen food must be stored and sold at -18 ˚C or below.

According to the guidelines of the Finnish Food Authority, food and food products can be sold even after the 'BEST BEFORE' date if the product is still usable. Typically, the product is still usable after this date. Usability can be determined best by looking at, smelling, and tasting the product.

However, products labeled with 'USE BY' date should not be sold or consumed after the date has passed.