The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have launched a major review of UK food standard.

Our Food: An annual review of food standards across the UK is the first in a series of reports.

Its publication follows two years of upheaval to the UK's food system, following Brexit, the significant effects of the pandemic and the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine.

Despite these significant pressures, the report concludes, with a degree of caution, that food standards in the UK have largely been maintained. However, while there is currently no evidence of a drop in standards, the report warns of challenges ahead.

The main concerns are the fall in the number of inspections of food businesses, as a result of the resourcing pressures faced by local councils. Secondly, the delay in establishing full UK imports controls for high-risk food and feed from the EU has reduced the ability to prevent unsafe food getting into the UK market.

Professor Susan Jebb, FSA chair, said: "This first joint report reflects on a period during which there has been significant concern about the impact of world events on food standards and safety.

"We are under no illusions that there are major challenges ahead. Establishing full UK import controls on food from the EU by the end of next year is a priority. The longer the UK operates without assurance that products from the EU meet our high food and feed safety standards, the less confident we can be that we can effectively identify potential safety incidents.

"Local authority inspections declined during the reporting period. Even though there are signs of improvement, particularly on hygiene inspections, local authorities continue to face resourcing constraints which could affect progress.

"We, along with our partners in government, must all make sure that the current challenges in the food system are resolved in a way that puts us on course for a safe, healthier and more sustainable future food system."