Vital food sampling and hygiene checks in restaurants and takeaways are not being carried out because of a lack of money, it has emerged.
The public is being put at risk because funds to cash-strapped local authorities have been frozen.
Research found that six councils did absolutely no food hygiene checks at all last year in any food establishment in their area.
This means rat-infested and dirty eateries are getting away with potentially harming the public.
A further 33 local authorities failed to carry out food sampling tests, meaning businesses could be selling meat and other products that are not what they appear.
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It also means that the restaurants and other outlets might be selling foods with potentially deadly allergens, such as nuts, without declaring it.
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The alarming research comes following an investigation by ITVs Tonight programme, which suggests there is no effective policing of our food standards.
They said a Freedom of Information request had discovered that the Food Standards Agency – a body set up to protect the public – had given no money at all in the past year to local authorities for food sampling tests.
Six councils where all restaurants missed hygiene checks
Blackpool
Liverpool
St. Helens
Windsor and Maidenhead
Richmond Upon Thames
Waltham Forest
Five years ago, at the height of the horse meat scandal, the agency gave £2,200,000 to councils to test what the public were eating.
Since the funding dried up, six councils have done no sampling in the past year, including Blackpool which has the highest number of takeaways per head of population.
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The others were the city of Liverpool, St Helens, Windsor and Maidenhead, Richmond upon Thames, and Waltham Forest.
A further 33 local authorities have done no standard food sampling in the past year.
Five years ago, there was a national outcry when it emerged that horse meat was being sold as beef in supermarket burgers and ready meals.
33 local authorities that have done no food sampling
Windsor and Maidenhead
Torbay
Southend on Sea
South Gloucestershire
Rutland
Isles of Scilly
Hull City
Halton
Blackpool
Bournemouth
Bedford
Wolverhampton
Sunderland
Tameside
St Helens
Solihull
Rotherham
Knowsley
Leeds
Liverpool
Calderdale
Bolton
Bradford
Waltham Forest
Sutton
Redbridge
Richmond-upon-Thames
Islington
Haringey
Enfield
Camden
Barking and Dagenham
Monmouthshire
The programme found that the situation has not gone away.
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They sampled 10 ham and pineapple pizzas from 10 independent takeaway restaurants across Greater Manchester and found that 90% of them were actually turkey rather than pork.
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Professor Chris Elliott, who led the official inquiry into the horse meat scandal, warned that councils do not have the staff to carry out the food inspections needed to protect the public.
Professor Elliott, from Queens University, Belfast, said: The lack of funding for environmental health inspectors and trading standards officers is extremely worrying.
Simon Blackburn, the Local Government Associations spokesman on food, said the number of trading standards officers employed across the UK has halved since 2010.
He said this meant they cant do all the work that they used to be able to do.
Mr Blackburn is also the leader of Blackpool council, which did no checks on its 1,500 eateries.
Asked about this, he said the council takes a risk-based approach to food safety and targets outlets it believes may be misleading the public or putting people in danger.
Michael Jackson, of the Food Standards Agency, told the programme that food safety is a top priority for the watchdog.
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Were confident that were doing a good job, but were not complacent, and were looking to further improve the system, he said.
The programme also claims that Brexit will put food standards even further at risk.
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An exodus of vets from EU countries will mean there will be fewer trained professionals working in abattoirs and there isnt the number of British experts to replace them.
ITV Tonight, Whats In Our Meat?, will be shown at 7.30pm today on ITV1.
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