Berkeley’s city health inspectors are suffering from a staffing crisis, according to an audit released on Wednesday. This staffing crisis means that almost half of the city’s food facilities went uninspected in 2023, including 193 restaurants.
Normally, food facilities are required to be inspected at least once a year, with some facilities, like nursing homes, requiring up to three inspections per year.
But according to the auditor’s report, nearly all of Berkeley’s high or very high risk facilities did not have the required three inspections in 2023. And 91 percent of medium risk facilities did not receive their required two inspections.
Additionally, only 26 percent of complaints regarding foodborne illnesses were inspected on time.
The Berkeley city auditor says this poses a serious health concern to the city, and has made a number of recommendations to the Environmental Health Division, the city department responsible for conducting food inspections.
Among those recommendations are addressing the staffing shortage. In 2023, there were only three full-time health inspectors responsible for inspecting more than 2,000 facilities.
But in San Francisco the problem is even worse. According to the report, 51 percent of facilities went uninspected in San Francisco in 2023, compared to only three percent in Alameda County.
Berkeley’s city council — which has its own staffing issues — plans to discuss the report at the end of July.
