An England-based study depicts how food safety spending cuts may translate into local authority staffing reductions and decreases in the number of food safety interventions that are carried out. Interestingly, industry compliance was not negatively affected.

The researchers analyzed publicly available financial data from 2009−2020 for local authorities responsible for environmental health services across England. Local authority expenditure data was compared with data from the UK Food Safety Agency’s (FSA’s) Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System and Food Hygiene Rating Scheme on three local authority food safety service indicators: 1) the number of interventions carried out per establishment, 2) local authority staff per capita, measured by food hygiene full-time equivalent (FTE) position figures, and 3) the proportion of food retail and foodservice establishments that are broadly compliant with UK hygiene regulations.

The data showed that, from 2009–2010 to 2019−2020:

• The mean food safety expenditure per capita decreased from £3.14 to £2.27 per capita
•  The average number of FTEs per 10,000 population in England reduced from 0.31 to 0.24 per 10,000 population
• The average number of interventions achieved decreased by 13,246 per 100,000 establishments
• The average percentage of broadly compliant establishments increased from 88 percent to 94 percent.

Based on their analysis, the researchers determined that:

• A £1 decrease in food safety expenditure per capita was associated with a 2 percent decrease in local authority staffing levels and a 1.6 percent decrease in the number of interventions achieved per establishment
• A one-unit reduction in staff was associated with a 42.2 percent decrease in the number of interventions achieved
• No evidence of an association was found between expenditure or staff levels and the proportion of compliant establishments.

These findings suggest that reductions in food safety expenditure may negatively impact the capacity of food safety teams to provide key services, significantly affecting food hygiene staff levels and service provisions.

The researchers raise concerns about the capacity of England’s food safety authorities to function and the potential for increased public risk of foodborne illness due to spending cuts. They call for further research to understand the effect of local authority cuts and food safety service provision on foodborne gastrointestinal disease outcomes.

The research was led by the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the University of Warwick. The full study can be accessed in the journal BMJ Open.