Filthy Blackpool food traders given 843 hygiene warnings in 2019/20

Restaurants and takeaways are the main offenders for the FSA, but any business that handles food can be inspected

The Food Standards Agency handed out 843 informal written warnings after traders were found breaching food safety laws. Problems included bad hygiene, poor record keeping, and failing to separate cooked and raw foods.

Inspectors took formal action against traders on 49 occasions, including four closures, six cautions, and 36 hygiene improvement notices.

In total, 151,300 written warnings were handed out across England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 2019 and 2020, and 4,800 formal enforcement actions were taken.

While the latest figures only cover a small period of the Covid-19 pandemic, the FSA said the crisis created 'unprecedented challenges for local authorities in delivering their statutory food functions', with councils advised to postpone some planned inspections during the first national lockdown period.

A radical overhaul of food business regulations was due to begin this year, but has been postponed until 2021.

Maria Jennings, director of regulatory compliance at the FSA, said: “Whilst the latest figures are not dissimilar to those from in 2018-19, we acknowledge that Covid-19 has clearly created significant pressures on local authorities since the end of March.

“We’ll be considering the impact the pandemic has had on their resources and on delivering their statutory responsibilities in relation to food at the FSA Board’s business committee meeting.”