Santa Fe, NM (KKOB) – Food safety inspections across New Mexico have been suspended due to a lack of funding. The state Environment Department’s Health Division says routine inspections of restaurants, school cafeterias, pools, septic systems, and other facilities are on hold until further notice. Inspections will now only take place during a public health emergency. The department says it requested one-point-two million dollars from the Legislature, but the funding was denied. The governor’s office says it is working to identify solutions to resume inspections.
The inspections will only happen in the event of a public health emergency. Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have their own food inspection departments, but the state still does inspections of some of the public facilities.
In a statement from the governor’s office, “We are actively working with the Department of Finance and Administration to identify solutions and are exploring all available options to ensure these critical inspections resume as quickly as possible.”
State Rep. Nathan Small, a Las Cruces Democrat who chairs the Legislative Finance Committee, pushed back on the idea the Legislature has given the Environment Department’s work a lower priority. The department will receive a roughly 9% increase in recurring funding for fiscal year 2027,
