Are stars better than grades or numbers or colors or smiley faces when posting the results of restaurant inspections?

That research has yet to be done, but Windsor (that’s in Ontario, Canada)

Dr. Allen Heimann, the medical officer of health, writes in the ironically named newspaper, the Windsor Star, that a five-star rating system was adopted last year and is intended to be representative of how closely food premises owners/operators follow food safety standards.

The results of this new program have been overwhelmingly positive. More than 95 per cent of food premises have either four or five stars.

If you don’t see a star sign posted, ask to see it. If it’s unavailable, you can choose to either purchase your food without knowing the rating, or search for the rating online first.

In fall 2010, the second phase of the SFC program will be in effect with the new website, which will allow you to search from home for any food premises and have instant access to its star rating and an inspection report.

Each report will list the concerns a health inspector had during their inspection, as well as an explanation of each.

Visit the SFC website at http://www.safefoodcounts.ca.