More than half of food businesses in Southampton have not had a food hygiene inspection for more than two years in what has been labelled a "serious public health issue".

Research by the BBC's Shared Data Unit has shown that 58.7 per cent of food premises in Southampton were last inspected before 2022. 

Guidelines state most food businesses in England should be assessed every six months to two years, depending on its level of risk. 

But the data from the Food Standards Agency shows that 423 businesses in the city have not been inspected since before 2022.

Southampton is the second-worst authority by proportion of inspections pre-2022 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - only Rochford in Essex had a higher proportion of food businesses last inspected before 2022.

Just 298 of the 721 premises in Southampton have received a return visit during the recommended time period. 

READ MORE: Waltham Tandoori in Bishop's Waltham handed poor hygiene score

The revelation has been described as a "serious public health issue" by public services union Unison adding that environmental health is a "shadow of its former self". 

But a spokesperson for Southampton City Council has said the authority "recognises the importance of ensuring businesses provide safe food to consumers".

They added: "The council’s environmental health service is working to tackle the backlog of inspections and has agreed an action plan with the Food Standards Agency to address the situation during 2024–25.

"A risk based approach is used to prioritise premises for inspection, with the available resources focussed on the highest risk premises.

"The council has maintained the number of posts for officers authorised to carry out food hygiene inspections but in common with many other local authorities, has faced challenges with recruiting to vacancies over the past five years.”

READ MORE: Here are Southampton's latest food hygiene ratings

Unchecked UK, a network of civil society organisations which makes the case for better consumer protections, said the results "concern but don't surprise us".

Director Phoebe Clay said: "This is part of a longstanding trend we have seen this in relation to a whole set of issues. Food standards has been affected by this general curtailment of enforcement activity.

“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.” 

Almost one in five food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (19.2 per cent) had not had a follow-up hygiene inspection at least since 2021, with almost a third of businesses classed as pubs, bars or nightclubs having last been assessed before 2022 (32.1 per cent).