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Councils Fail to Inspect 'High-Risk' Food Outlets

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 18:00 CST

By JEREMY WATSON

UP TO a third of Scottish councils are failing to meet targets for carrying out hygiene inspections in "high-risk" food premises.

The inspections are designed to spot breaches in health and safety regulations in restaurants and other food outlets that could lead on to food poisoning outbreaks.

But according to the latest figures published by the government's Food Standards Agency, some councils are struggling to monitor hygiene standards in high-risk category establishments even though they are required to do so by law.

Food outlets are split into five categories - A to E - depending on the risk to the public.

Of Scotland's 32 local authorities, 14 failed to inspect all the premises in the highest or A category, which covers large restaurants and food manufacturers.

The worst record was held by Renfrewshire, which only managed to carry out 55 per cent of inspections in Category A businesses.

In the B category, 20 of the 32 councils failed to reach the required 100 per cent inspection rate. They included Moray, with a rate of just 75 per cent, and Falkirk with 83 per cent.

Only eight councils had a complete record of inspecting all the Category C premises on their patch.

The figures cover the financial year up to April 2005 and environmental health experts believe a nationwide shortage of inspectors is partially to blame.

But the FSA board, which discussed the results this month, says it will now assess the performance of poorly performing councils and consider what action might be taken against them.

One of the worst-hit areas for staffing shortages is the Scottish Borders, which has lost four environmental health officers from its 14-strong department in the last year.

The department is responsible for checking up to 1,500 food premises - including food shops, cafes, restaurants, bars and takeaways - in its sprawling area.

In 2004-5, the council had a 100 per cent record of carrying out inspections on all five categories of food premises but officials fear a dip will now be recorded.

Environmental health manager Ken Jones said the risk to public health was increasing. "We can just about cover the high-risk categories but it's the lower categories we struggle with if you don't have adequate numbers of staff.

"Then you don't know what position these premises are in and the intervals between inspections get longer. So if there is a hygiene problem it lasts longer before you become aware of it. That means there is a greater risk to public health.

"If you don't stay on top of the situation then the good ones stay good and the bad ones get worse."

Borders Council is now having to offer "golden hellos" of GBP 3,000 in a bid to fill vacant posts. "We are having to do this just to attract new recruits," Jones added.

Overall, serious food poisoning cases in Scotland are in decline following a sharp decrease in salmonella infections after the widespread introduction of vaccination in chickens in the late 1990s.

E coli reached record levels after an outbreak in Wishaw 10 years ago but had also been in decline ever since.

However poisoning by campylobacter, a bacteria caught mainly through undercooked chicken, has remained constant at around 4,500 reported cases per year.

Scientists believe the true incidence is nine times higher because most of the cases go unreported.

Source: Scotland on Sunday

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