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High Proportions of UK Food Businesses Awaiting FSA Hygiene Inspection
Thousands of food businesses are awaiting hygiene inspections, according to an analysis of UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) records conducted by Virtual College. At the same time, poor hygiene ratings among inspected businesses remain low.
Other Food Industry Sectors Awaiting Inspection
The analysis examined more than 600,000 public food hygiene records across 14 types of food businesses. Among 12,039 records for food manufacturers and packers, 1,746 facilities (14.5 percent) were listed as awaiting inspection.
Other food industry sectors also had relatively high proportions of records awaiting inspection. Food importers and exporters had the highest rate among the 14 business types analyzed, at 27.2 percent (245 of 900 records). Among farmers and growers, 696 of 2,817 records (24.71 percent) were awaiting inspection.
Meanwhile, 790 of 4,656 food distributors and transporters are awaiting inspection (16.97 percent).
Takeaways, the highest-risk category by hygiene outcome, are experiencing an 8.3 percent inspection volume. By raw volume, the "Other catering premises" category has the largest number of businesses currently awaiting inspection, at 11,238.
Most Rated Food Manufacturers Received Top Hygiene Score
Of the 7,705 food manufacturer and packer records with a hygiene rating from 0–5, 84.3 percent had received the highest rating of 5. Approximately 1.87 percent were rated from 0–2, categorized in the analysis as “Need Improvement,” while 0.12 percent had received a rating of 0.
Only 3.5 percent of food importers and exporters, 1.8 percent of food distributors and transporters, and 0.25 percent of farmers and growers were rated 0–2.
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UK Food Safety Authorities Dealing with Resource Constraints, Inspection Backlog
FSA and Food Standards Scotland have previously raised concerns about inspection backlogs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, with long-term declines in the national food hygiene and food standards workforce adding pressure. In 2025, authorities reported more than 95,000 overdue inspections, including 871 high-risk businesses.
In an effort to alleviate the strained food control system, FSA is moving forward with the development of a modernized, system-wide approach to food regulation, including changes that would affect local authority delivery of official controls, oversight of the nation’s largest food retailers, and the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.
