Food safety: ESA calls on Iceland to strengthen controls of fruit and vegetable producers

A new report by the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) recommends that Iceland strengthen its system for official controls of producers of cut fruits and vegetables, leafy greens and sprouts. The report follows an audit carried out in Iceland from 8 to 17 September 2025.

The audit's objective was to verify compliance with food-safety legislation governing the production of certain non-animal-origin foods in the European Economic Area (EEA) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the official control system in place.

The audit revealed that the system for official control of food of non-animal origin in Iceland is generally functioning, and approved establishments are subject to sufficiently regular official controls. However, the audit also revealed significant weaknesses in the control system, including coordination between control bodies during control activities, a problem ESA has repeatedly pointed out since 2012. These weaknesses were the basis for ESA´s letter of formal notice regarding shortcomings in official controls in the food sector in 2024.

The report includes four recommendations that the Icelandic authorities must address to rectify the identified shortcomings and enhance the control system in place:

• Strengthen the coordination and cooperation between the different competent authorities to ensure consistency in the official controls across the country;
• Improve the follow-up of official controls to ensure that operators rectify identified non-compliances in an adequate manner;
• Ensure that sampling and analysis for microbial safety of food of non-animal origin is appropriate and representative, and;
• Ensure that food business operators producing sprouts carry out sampling and analysis in an appropriate and representative manner.

In response to ESA's draft report, Iceland has provided a plan of corrective actions to address the recommendations. This plan is included in the final report.

Food safety in the EEA

EEA law sets high standards for food and feed safety, and for animal health and welfare.

ESA is responsible for monitoring how Iceland and Norway implement EEA rules on food safety, feed safety and animal health and welfare.

Consequently, ESA performs regular audits in both countries, while Liechtenstein is subject to a different surveillance system for food safety.

ESA's report can be found here .

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