Food safety 'crisis' warning as quarter of councils don't have enough inspectors

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A quarter of councils don't have enough food safety officers as Scotland faces a massive nationwide shortage, worrying stats reveal.

Data seen by the Record from 27 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities shows there is a 20 per cent shortfall overall in the number of food safety officers (FSOs).And among the eight councils missing staffing targets are some of the biggest in Scotland, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and North Lanarkshire.

FSOs regularly inspect food businesses to ensure the products they’re selling are legal and safe to eat and checking premises meet health and safety rules.Labour MSP Monica Lennon, who obtained the data from freedom of information, said the labour shortfall risked causing a “major public health crisis”.She told the Record: “A shortage of food safety officers in Scotland is really worrying because of the vital role they play in making sure our communities have safe and healthy food.

When it comes to food safety, cutting corners is not an option.“Our investigation reveals that many local authorities across Scotland are struggling to recruit skilled workers for food safety posts, at a time when they are experiencing increased workload due to Brexit.”Post-Brexit customs checks and new trade deals are piling uncertainty and extra red tape onto the workloads of food safety officials.