Backlogs in food inspections across mid, north and west Wales are ‘putting the public at risk’ as BBC figures reveal that across the region, hundreds of restaurants and takeaways have not been inspected for food standards in the past two years.

Analysis from the BBC Shared Data Unit shows one in five restaurants and takeaways across the UK have not been inspected by food inspectors for more than two years.

The deep dive data shows that in Pembrokeshire, 355 of the 740 premises had not been inspected in the past two years, 48 per cent of all businesses.

It makes the county the worst performing authority in Wales, and 10th worst in the UK.

In neighbouring Carmarthenshire, 41 per cent of food businesses had not been inspected with the last two years.

Nearly one in three of Powys’ 943 food businesses had not been inspected in the last two years, while in Ceredigion, 12 per cent of premises had not been inspected in the last two years.

In Gwynedd, only 57 of the council’s 860 food businesses had not been inspected in the last two years.

Environmental health teams say a recruitment crisis and a backlog from the pandemic are behind the trend.

The public services union, Unison, called it a “serious public health issue.”

Unison’s head of local government Mike Short said: “Environmental health is a shadow of its former self. Government cuts have put an almighty squeeze on council spending.

“Many jobs have gone and vital experience has been lost.

“Departments now have so few staff that inspections only happen when it’s too late and a problem’s been reported.

“In the past, councils would offer guidance and training to new businesses to help them stay the right side of the law.

“This has all long gone.

“Without a doubt, cuts have put the public at risk.

“Inspections are now so delayed that it’s perfectly possible for food businesses with shoddy hygiene practices to operate with little fear of ever being caught.

“This is a serious public health issue.”

The BBC investigation comes amid heightened food safety concerns following an E-coli outbreak in June linked to contaminated products.

Guidelines state most food premises in England, Wales and Northern Ireland should be inspected between six months and two years depending on the level of risk.

Some extremely low-risk businesses , such as pharmacists and greengrocers, can be inspected within three years.

Council-employed teams rate premises on things like cleanliness, pest control and safe storage of food - giving a score between 0 in the worst cases and five in the best cases.

They also have the power to prosecute and shut businesses down in extreme circumstances.

In Wales, the scheme was introduced in 2013 and it mandatory for a business to display the food hygiene rating it receives, with the scores also available online.

The BBC's analysis of more than 250,000 public records on the Food Standards Agency website has found more than 53,000 had not been inspected since 2021.

Some councils in the UK had not been to around half of the eateries in the area in over two years.

Emily Miles, the chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which oversees food hygiene inspections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, said councils were generally getting through backlogs of high-risk inspections, which mounted during the Covid lockdowns.

But she said the FSA was concerned lower-risk venues and new venues were not being checked.

She said: “We wouldn’t expect some businesses to be inspected that frequently.

“The rating system divides businesses up by risk - so the highest risk, such as the really big manufacturers or a takeaway with a really poor compliance history, we would expect them to be inspected about every six months.

“With your lowest risk businesses – like your chemist selling sweets, or home baker only operating occasionally – we would expect them to have an inspection about every three years.

“In the middle there you have restaurants with really good hygiene controls, compliant restaurants serving a large amount of people.

“They would be getting inspections every 18 to 24 months.

“So having some businesses without an inspection after two years we would expect.

“However, we are concerned there is an increase in businesses awaiting a first inspection. Pre-pandemic, something like 26,000 businesses were awaiting an inspection – that’s about the normal frictional level you would expect in the system every quarter.

“Now the figure is about 41,000 awaiting an inspection – that’s down from April 2021 when there were about 77,000 waiting.

“Local authorities have done a fantastic job getting on top of that backlog, however we are concerned that number is not back down to that 25,000 to 30,000 level.

“Lowest risk businesses haven’t had the inspections we expect them to have.

“What we’ve got now is local authorities largely keeping up with the interventions they need to do in higher risk and medium risk - but they are not managing to keep up with the lower risk premises. “And that’s just a concern to us - it means food businesses are missing out on advice and support. “And we also know that when somewhere gets a higher food rating it’s far less likely to cause someone to be ill.

“We do see a lot of pressure facing local authorities at the moment.

“The number of people in post is not dissimilar to what it was before the pandemic - we are looking at about 1,400 food hygiene staff across the country and about 380 trading standards officers.

“But it’s the vacancy rates that do worry us.

“Between one in seven and one in ten are vacant and local authorities can struggle to recruit.

“In addition, local authorities are facing significant financial pressures and we’ve seen a long-term decline in funding into the food system in local authorities.

“The levels of sampling are lower, we’ve got almost half the number of trading standards officers we had ten years ago, we are down 14-15 per cent on food hygiene inspectors.

“So, we are concerned about that and we also think the number of businesses has grown in that time as well, so there’s more work to do with fewer staff.

“We have high food standards in this country - but it’s something you won’t know you’ve got until it’s gone.”

A spokesman for Pembrokeshire Council – the worst performing county in Wales, and 10th worst in the whole of the UK said a "national recruitment crisis" was behind its backlog.

As a result he said it left diners at increased risk of "food-poisoning", "allergen incidents" and "injuries" from eating unsafe food.

“Despite, the very challenging financial settlement there have been no budget cuts which have required a cut in headcount over this period,” the council spokesperson said.

“However, the authority has encountered significant recruitment challenges and staff absences which have impacted on its ability to recover services following the pandemic.

“These have been particularly acute in our food law enforcement and trading standards teams.

“This is set against a backdrop of a national recruitment crisis and scarcity of qualified Environmental Health and Trading Standards professionals.

“The Public Protection Service has developed a workforce strategy and action plan, to increase and promote opportunities for careers in environmental health and trading standards, with a particular emphasis on food safety and standards enforcement.

“This will help address the national shortage of qualified professionals, enable the Council to ‘grow our own’ and to support staff development and progression.

“In addition agency staff are engaged where possible, in particular focusing on food safety and standards inspections.”

Issues with food inspections in Ceredigion where highlighted by committee members back in 2022 where concerns about the authority’s food hygiene and inspection capacity were highlighted by Cllr Gareth Davies.

Corporate lead officer Alun Williams said at the time that Ceredigion County Council “are not in a particularly good place” with environmental health services across Wales struggling for staff.

Mr Williams said it is hoped to develop an apprenticeship scheme for food inspection staff in the long term to solve the problem.

He said at the time that the council “are quite behind the targets where we would like to be” with businesses waiting to be inspected, but that improvements to Ceredigion’s planning service are “underway”.

The UK charity, Unchecked, said food standards had been affected by a “general curtailment of enforcement activity”.

A spokesman said: “It’s primarily the consequence of years of disinvestment into what used to be a pretty good system.

“There is increasing evidence of a rise in things we don’t expect in the UK.

“Things like salmonella, E-coli - things that are directly the consequence of low standards and lack of cleanliness.

“Local authorities are facing a real financial crisis - and generally this has fallen on parts of their responsibility for which there is less visibility.

“Food hygiene and consumer protections have been big losers of that austerity drive - we have seen the boots on the ground fall quite significantly.

“There are less people out there carrying out basic checks and the pandemic has made that a lot worse.

“People are suffering serious illnesses because those checks aren’t there.

“Local authorities have not been held to account as much as they should have been on these issues and that’s partly because of the policies emerging from central government.”

A spokesperson for Hospitality UK - which represents hotels, food and drink venues across the UK – said it “works closely with the Food Standards Agency to ensure food businesses have the best advice available.”

“The most recent FSA data shows just over three-quarters (75.7% per cent) of food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland achieved a top rating of 5 for hygiene, and overall 97.1 per cent of businesses scored satisfactory or above.

“Even with re-inspection challenges, this shows the sector demonstrates very high compliance.

“Despite the pressures the sector has faced in recent years, the safety of our customers remains non-negotiable and food hygiene is a major focus for businesses – alongside work on allergens and food crime."

Overall figures from the BBC data show around 19 per cent of total inspected food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have not had a follow-up hygiene inspection at least since 2021.

Almost a third of businesses classed as pubs, bars or nightclubs were last assessed before 2022 (32.1 per cent), followed by mobile caterers (29 per cent), restaurants, cafes and canteens (16 per cent) and takeaways and sandwich shops (11 per cent).

Of the 44,226 establishments looked at in the data in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that were last inspected over two years ago, 195 (0.4 per cent) failed their last inspection.

In the 11 years since the food hygiene ratings following inspections was introduced in Wales, councils say the scheme has “driven up standards” across the board, saying it “has delivered lasting benefits to consumers and businesses and is rightly celebrated as one of the country’s most significant public health achievements of the 21st century.”

In Ceredigion, latest figures show that more than 69.2 per cent of businesses display a rating of five on their premises, with 94.3 per cent having a rating of three or above.

In Powys, 1,648 businesses display a rating of five and 2,157 have a rating of three or above.

In Gwynedd, over 89.3 per cent of businesses display a rating of five and 98.7 per cent have a rating of three or above.

Nathan Barnhouse, Director of the Food Standards Agency in Wales said: “We are proud to deliver the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme in partnership with Local Authorities and Welsh Government.

“Local Authorities are essential to the success of the scheme.

“Through their regular engagement with food businesses, they have played a key role in driving up hygiene standards to where they are today.

“The scheme allows people to vote with their feet or by a click of a button and choose those businesses that take food hygiene seriously.”