The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revealed that it is battling with a backlog of food hygiene inspections following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite resuming assessments, an FSA spokesperson told Better Retailing it advised local authorities, who carry out the inspections, to defer planned inspections and prioritise “urgent reactive work” during the initial stages of lockdown.

The work included investigations of food-borne illness outbreaks.

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“Our advice will have had an impact on delivery of planned inspections, but, as local authorities only report to us on this annually, we are not able at this stage to estimate how many have been deferred,” said the FSA spokesperson.

“The focus now is on resuming physical inspections for poorly compliant and high-risk businesses, including those that have changed activities during the pandemic or have reopened after prolonged closure.”

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Retailers who undergo a food hygiene inspection are assessed on factors such as the handling of food and cleanliness of facilities. They are ranked on a scale of zero to five, with five being the best score.

The FSA spokesperson added that food hygiene assessments will be marked against the same criteria as before the outbreak. “An initial remote assessment could be used to identify areas to focus on during the subsequent on-site visit,” they said.

Find out more on our coronavirus information hub for retailers