Local authorities should be enabled to spend more time ensuring food standards are maintained, study says as one in 10 takeaways in the UK are found to have failed inspections.
The latest figures from the Food Standards Agency shows that chicken shops are the most likely to need immediate action, followed by Indian and Chinese restaurants, while fish and chip shops were the least likely to fail an inspection.
The agency has put forward proposals to allow local authorities to spend more time on food businesses that are non-compliant or pose the greatest risk to public health, aiming to reduce the burden on compliant or low-risk businesses.
The authority’s Katie Pettifer said: ‘The food landscape has changed dramatically in the three decades since the current regulatory regime was put in place, as has the way we buy and consume food.
‘We want people to have food they can trust. That’s why we want to ensure that local authorities and district councils can use their resources as effectively as possible while we develop a sustainable regulatory model for food hygiene.
‘Our proposals will allow local authorities to spend more time on food businesses that are non-compliant or pose the greatest risk to public health, reducing the regulatory burden on compliant or low-risk businesses.’
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