Shockingly high number of Dumfries and Galloway businesses fail food hygiene inspections

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A shockingly high number of businesses failed food hygiene inspections in Dumfries and Galloway this year.

Environmental health teams visited 166 premises in a six-month period between April 1 and September 30, and 148 of them failed to get pass marks on that initial visit.

The types of businesses included cafes, restaurants, butchers, takeaways, care establishments, and retail premises.

Council chiefs had a target of 75 percent of visited premises passing their food hygiene inspection scheme – however that figure was just 11.51 percent.

The stats are revealed in a six-month performance report which is due to come before councillors at next week’s economy and resources committee.

A council spokesman said: “The figure reflects the small number of businesses achieving a pass at the initial inspection – during this time 166 businesses were inspected.

“Officers work with the businesses to ensure standards are raised when issues are found, and a pass can and does get issued at follow up inspections.

“Following up on these visits, the pass rate is now at 80 percent after input from the service and remedial work carried out by the businesses.”

In August this year, a BBC investigation highlighted that consumers across the UK faced an increased risk of food poisoning and other serious health issues because of a crisis in food safety.

Analysis showed that two thirds of restaurants and takeaways in Dumfries and Galloway had not been inspected by food inspectors for more than two years.

This shock figure made Dumfries and Galloway the third worst region in the UK in terms of upholding food safety standards.

However, steps have been taken since to catch up on the backlog.

The BBC also underlined that this was a worrying trend nationally as one in five restaurants and takeaways had not been visited by food inspectors for more than 24 months.

Environmental health teams say a recruitment crisis and a backlog from the pandemic caused the
trend.

Authorised officers from councils will visit premises to check if businesses are complying with food law and producing food that is safe to eat.

They have the right to enter and inspect business premises at any time, and authorised officers usually arrive without making an appointment.

In August this year, a Dumfries and Galloway Council spokesman said: “Our environmental health service has experienced increasing levels of demand since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In addition to that, the service has found that food hygiene standards has slipped in many food establishments since that time, possibly due to the pause in inspections that was necessary.

“As a consequence, many inspections are taking longer than they would have done previously and we are undertaking a number of return visits to ensure that the public are kept safe.”

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