The metrology inspectorate is checking thermometers in food businesses. Two thirds fail
In brief
- Since 2023, the Slovak Metrological Inspectorate has been running targeted checks of temperature instruments in chilled and frozen storage of food-service businesses and butcher shops.
- It found violations at 62–71% of inspected premises; fines range from €200 to €10,000, with on-the-spot fines up to €300.
- The most common failure: instruments without a calibration certificate from an accredited laboratory, and no instrument register.
Most food businesses watch out for hygiene inspections. Less known is that temperature instruments in Slovakia are also overseen by another authority — the Slovak Metrological Inspectorate (SMI, an ÚNMS SR body). According to its own annual reports, since 2023 it has been running targeted inspections of chilled and frozen storage in food-service establishments and butcher shops.
What the official numbers say
- 2023: 203 inspections, violations in 144 cases (70.9%)
- 2024: 111 inspections, violations in 69 cases (62.2%)
- 2025: 142 inspections, violations in 95 cases (66.9%)
In other words: two thirds of inspected premises failed. The focus on food storage has repeated three years in a row.
Hygiene vs. metrology — two different inspectors
The hygiene authority looks at HACCP as a whole and verifies temperatures with its own calibrated thermometer. Metrological surveillance is about the instruments themselves and their paperwork: Slovak decree 533/2007 requires temperature verification with a “mandatorily calibrated instrument”, and the Metrology Act 157/2018 (§ 17) states that such calibration may only be performed by the metrology institute or an accredited calibration laboratory. Businesses must also keep an instrument register and retain calibration documents.
Requirements and fines
At an inspection you need to show: a working instrument wherever measurement is required, a calibration certificate from an accredited laboratory, and an instrument register. Sanctions under § 55: fines of €200 to €10,000 in administrative proceedings (up to €50,000 for serious offences), on-the-spot fines up to €300.
How to pass without stress
- every temperature instrument with a calibration certificate from an accredited laboratory,
- a maintained instrument register with calibration validity,
- continuous temperature records with documented explanations and corrective actions for every deviation.
That is exactly how TempeStorm is built: every sensor ships with a calibration certificate from an accredited laboratory — included, with regular exchanges, the system keeps the instrument register and calibration validity automatically, and HACCP records are generated by themselves, deviations explained. More in Thermometer calibration for HACCP, prices in the pricing.
Sources: ÚNMS SR annual reports 2023–2025 (normoff.gov.sk), Act No. 157/2018 Coll., Decree No. 533/2007 Coll.
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