Sometimes reality exceeds understanding, at least in my case

Sometimes it is hard to believe what you read, but this is true if we should believe the environmental inspector in Knivsta municipality, which the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise has an article about on their website.

That many small business owners in Sweden think that bureaucracy has gone too far is not surprising when you read how a small business is treated by a municipality.

A municipality that actually, according to themselves, operates the ENTREPRENUIAL FACTORY.

Back to the hot dog stand Mojjen.
It is not allowed to handle raw materials in this hot dog stand.
It is not allowed to cook (real) mashed potatoes, not allowed to chop vegetables yourself, but it is permissible to cook and serve instant mashed potatoes and ready chopped vegetables purchased from a wholesaler - Yes, you read right, and the municipal environmental inspector insists that the legislation gives the municipality the right in its decision.

You may not chop vegetables in the hot dog stand, but you may unpack ready chopped vegetables from wholesalers. You cannot chop these vegetables yourself, but you can serve them, so you may reasonably at least touch the vegetables during the process of hot dog stand – customer

You may not boil potatoes, but you can deal with the powder that must be cooked. I really do not know what the risks are to boil potatoes compared to cook powder and not hot dogs for that matter, if you want to develop the issue?

On the other hand, I would like to read the legislation saying they support the municipality in this matter, but the question is, can it really be a law in Sweden that gives the municipality rights? If so, then there are things we need to work on, and not just in Knivsta municipality.

But Knivsta municipal environment inspector considers himself to be a hero and believe that the law should be followed.

But he has interpreted the law the right way and does it agree with him? Personally, I do not think so, but it remains to be seen.

Small business owners will not give up so the environmental inspector will have to explain himself to JO.
It will be interesting to follow up on this; it might be a new job available soon in Knivsta municipality. If so, something good came out of this story.

Although Knivsta Municipal Enterprise Manager has nothing to do with this story, my recommendation to all small businesses is: Watch out for Knivsta municipality even though the municipality is keen to profile itself as the ENTREPRENUAIL FACTORY.

This is a recommendation that probably saves many entrepreneurs lot of future hassle and loss of time. If the municipality is represented by this attitude towards their workers please choose another municipality.

There are many good communities in Sweden, which always works to attract business, not just in words but in act.

Take, for example, Solna Municipality which holds high standards in all surveys in regards to business climate. I can promise, this story would never happen there. In Solna, there is a positive business attitude in all municipal rooms and walls, and the laws are interpreted for the business community to develop and live.