I’ve always been a fan of layered levels of information: with food, most people just want to go shopping or eat out, others want minimal levels of info – like scores on doors for restaurant inspection, and some want the who-do-you-think-you-are routine for every tomato consumed.

So now that New York City has embraced letter grades on doors, and discovered people like having access to information, the health department is considering adding bar codes that can be scanned by cell phones, allowing diners to see the violations behind the establishment’s rating.

There may soon be an app for that.

Spokeswoman Erin Hughes told the New York Daily News, "The Health Department is exploring the possibility of putting bar codes on restaurant letter grades that would take consumers directly to a restaurant’s latest [inspection] results."

The Health Department puts the details behind the A, B or C grades online, but bar codes would make that information easily accessible at a restaurant’s door.
It’s among a host of efforts the city is considering as it looks for ways to put more information in people’s palms.

"People can communicate and get information in ways that they never could before," Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.