Shortage of food safety officers 'could put businesses and customers at risk'

A growing shortage of food safety officers could put hospitality businesses and customers at risk and lead to serious issues being missed, a new study has warned.

An annual report by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) said vacancies were “worryingly high” across the country.

Data from 2022 shows the number of food safety posts supported by local councils in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland dropped by almost 14% since 2011/12.

Approximately one in seven food safety posts remained vacant, a higher level than before the pandemic.

In Scotland, the shortage was more severe with the number of occupied food law roles, which look after food safety, having fallen by more than 25% compared to 2016/17 levels.

Professor Susan Jebb, chair of the FSA, warned high food standards could be more difficult to maintain in future if nothing was done to boost the workforce.

“Food safety and standards hinge on good procedures and skilled people to ensure that the right checks are carried out,” said Jebb.

“Failure to recruit and train professionals to key posts can have reverberations for many years to come.”

Approximately 39,500 food businesses had been left without a food hygiene rating at the end of 2022 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the report found.

However, this was down from a post-pandemic peak of 77,000 unrated businesses in 2021 as local authorities continued to recover from the pandemic.

The number of trading standards officers, who check the composition and nutritional content of food and the accuracy of labelling and advertising, also dropped between 30% and 50% between 2009 and 2019.

Just over half of the local authorities in the UK did not believe they had sufficient expertise to cover the full range of trading standards responsibilities, the report found.

The FSA said that although food businesses had struggled with a rise in costs, its inspection data did not suggest this had led to a decline in food hygiene standards.

At the end of 2022, just over three quarters of food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland achieved a top rating of five for hygiene. Only 2.9% were rated two or below, meaning they required improvement.

In Scotland, 93% of businesses met the required standard.