Two British agencies are concerned about the availability of resources for food safety tests.
Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have expressed concerns in a report entitled “Our Food 2024: An annual review of the food standards in Great Britain”. The report expressly quotes residues from Covid-19 pandemic.
“The resources for food standards of the local authority are under pressure, with a long-term decline in the appropriate food hygiene and food standards,” the report says. “In Scotland, 20 percent of all overall assigned roles on food safety were not available or empty at the end of 2024, and although in England, Wales and Northern Ireland the personnel event between 2022/23 and 2023/24 showed a certain improvement, there are persistent postpandemic residues.”
The report states that nine of ten British food companies that are covered by food hygiene program (FHRS) and food hygiene information scheme (FHIS) are still satisfactory or better ratings. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, however, there is a gap of 95,000 overdue inspections, including 871 companies with high risk. In Scotland, 17.2 percent (12,533 of 72,950) were not rated in Scotland.
In 2024, the inspection deficit existed in 2024 despite the number of inspections carried out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which for the first time exceeds pandemic.
The report states that FHRS and FHIS evaluations are only administered to companies that sell or serve food directly to the public.
Manage the post -pandemical backlog
As described in the previous year's report (our food 2023), the local authorities have managed high amounts of overdue inspections that have accumulated during the Covid 19 pandemic. Despite some staff growth, there was problems with the deficit in 2024.
One of the challenges is that a considerable proportion of the newly employed employees is either still in training or require additional support and supervision if you build your professional experience. “The local authorities also report difficulties in recruiting and binding competent civil servants, while some civil servants for food security are diverted for other requirements outside of food safety,” the report says.
“As a result, the effects of the increased number of personnel are expected to take time to significantly reduce the overdue inspections,” the report said.
Meat and dairy farms
The report states that the vast majority of British meat and dairy farms correspond to hygiene standards.
From December 2024, all approved meat show directions in Northern Ireland and the majority in England, Wales and Scotland had achieved a good or satisfactory assessment. Compliance with dairy farms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland remained consistently high in 2024, with 98.7 percent to 99.9 percent required the hygiene standards.
Despite a larger number of inspections in 2023/24 (230), less enforcement measures were required in Scotland in 2023/24 (73).
You can find the entire report here.
