Data provided by online compliance training provider Virtual College indicates that close to 15% of all food manufacturers and packers are currently awaiting a hygiene inspection.
Virtual College analysed the records of 12,039 UK food manufacturers and packers and said that, besides the 1,476 businesses explicitly noted as “Awaiting inspection”, a further 2,588 (21.5%) manufacturer records had no live publicly available rating.
Manufacturers who do not also provide food direct to consumers, are outside the scope of FHRS in both England and Northern Ireland.
There can be a number of reasons why a business is listed as awaiting an inspection on the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme website, including that they have only recently commenced trading or because they are considered to be relatively lower risk in the context of prioritising inspections.
In England and Northern Ireland the inclusion of manufacturers and packers is limited to businesses which also provide food direct to consumers for example, those with an onsite retail outlet or providing food to consumers via an online platform.
This could include smaller scale businesses operating from home which provide food both to other businesses and direct to consumers.
Overall, food manufacturers and packers tend to post strong results when inspected, with just 1.87% of premises listed as “Need improvement”, or scoring a rating of 0-2.
The data identified takeaways and sandwich shops as the biggest hygiene risk within the sector, with 5.68% requiring improvement and only 61% scoring a perfect five rating.
The failure rate stands at 5.21% for other food retailers, while farmers and growers sit at the opposite extreme, with a rate of just 0.25%.
Schools, colleges and universities posted the lowest hygiene risk of any category nationwide, with just 0.43% rated 0-2 and 91.06% achieving a five rating.
Hospitals, childcare and care premises followed closely at 0.73%. Both categories comfortably outperformed every hospitality-facing business type in the dataset.
Jamie Ashforth, business and strategy director at Virtual College, shares advice for food businesses looking to safeguard their compliance standing: “Don’t wait for an inspector to flag an issue. Regular internal audits against Food Standards Agency criteria help catch problems before they affect your public rating.
“Our data shows takeaway and sandwich shops consistently underperform other premises types, so operators in this category should focus disproportionate attention on food handling and storage practices.”
He continued: “High staff turnover in hospitality also means hygiene training can’t be a one-off induction exercise. Refresher training should be built into every shift pattern change.”
Food importers and exporters have the highest awaiting-inspection rate in the dataset at 27.22%, followed by farmers and growers at 24.71% and mobile caterers at 17.17%.
However, all three sectors are typically considered low risk. The inspection backlog is notably lower among takeaway businesses, where the figure stands at 8.30%.
Speaking to Food Manufacture, Mark Davis, head of the Delivery Support Unit at the FSA said: “Food manufacturers aren’t routinely included in FHRS ratings in England as the scheme’s remit does not extend beyond businesses supplying food direct to consumers.
“Local authority expert teams have responsibility for inspecting food businesses and working with them to improve if they fall short of legal standards. This includes taking enforcement action if necessary.”
He added: “We know local authorities are under resourcing pressures. We work with them to take a risk-based approach, so their resources can be targeted where they’re needed most, protecting consumers and businesses.”
