The number of New York City workers handling food-stamp cases has not kept pace with the dramatic increase in enrollment following the economic downturn, a city official testified Tuesday.

At the end of 2011, with 1.825 million people in the food-stamp program, the city employed one worker for every 852 cases. At the end of 2007, before the recession, there was one case worker for every 549 food-stamp cases.

Patricia...