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Crisis in food safety
30/07/2024
In West Northants a third of food outlets haven’t been checked in two years; it’s a quarter in the Cherwell district
Consumers face an increased risk of food poisoning and other serious health issues because of a crisis in food safety.
A BBC Shared Data Unit investigation has found that across the country one in five restaurants and takeaways have not been inspected by food inspectors for more than two years.
In the West Northamptonshire Council area its worse, with around a third of food outlets (548) not checked since before 2022.
Within Cherwell District Council area 106 restaurants and takeaways hadn’t been inspected in the last two years – 23 percent.
Environmental health teams say a recruitment crisis and a backlog from the pandemic are behind the trend.
The public services union, Unison, said: “This is a serious public health issue.”
A spokesman said: “Inspections are now so delayed that it’s perfectly possible for food businesses with shoddy hygiene practices to operate with little fear of ever being caught.”
The investigation comes amid heightened food safety concerns following an E-coli outbreak in June, linked to contaminated products.
Emily Miles, the chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which oversees food hygiene inspections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said councils were generally getting through backlogs of high-risk inspections, which mounted during the Covid lockdowns.
But she said the FSA was concerned lower-risk venues and new venues were not being checked.
She said: “It’s something that could be a slow burn to a very uncomfortable and unhelpful situation. We have high food standards in this country – but it’s something you won’t know you’ve got until it’s gone.”
A Food Standards Scotland (FSS) spokesman said the system was in need of reform, with the staffing levels of food safety officers currently at 47 per cent.
The UK charity, Unchecked, said food standards had been affected by a “general curtailment of enforcement activity”.
A spokesman said: “Its primarily the consequence of years of disinvestment into what used to be a pretty good system.”
The Food Standard Agency says that inspections should take place every six months for the highest risk businesses and up to two years for lower risk businesses. The interval for some very low risk businesses may be longer than two years.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam