Some jurisdictions, like the Region of Waterloo in Canada, have websites to disclose restaurant inspection reports to the public. Others, a ‘scores on doors’ approach, like the proposed grade postings in NYC.

Restaurant disclosure systems are designed to communicate restaurant inspection information to the public, and to be most effective these methods have to be eye-catching and informative. The Waterloo website alone isn’t attracting as much public attention as it used to, and is looking to change this, reports The Record.

The website which once recorded more than a million visits in its first year, is now receiving only 300,000 visits a year, but the region proposes to change this,
 
The health unit is considering trying to increase the site’s popularity by having restaurants voluntarily post signs promoting it.

The wording hasn’t been determined, but the signs might provide a two-year history of an establishment’s violations under the provincial Health Protection and Promotion Act. Or the signs might just refer restaurant visitors to the website for the safety history of all local establishments.

The health unit should consider the first, posting restaurant inspection results on the premises of food establishments – it seems to have kept website numbers in neighboring jurisdictions Toronto and Niagara regular. These jurisdictions combine postings in the form of pass/conditional pass/ fail at the establishment on coloured cards, with the municipality website. And the combination seems to work.

Though there is often some negative feedback associated with these disclosure cards on the premises, a “Conditional pass” sign in the window of an establishment, like that pictured right, would likely spark consumers to check the website for farther details of the inspection. A sign in the window saying “Visit the Region of Waterloo website for farther inspection details” may not be as effective.
 

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Saturday a plan for the city to adopt a public disclosure system for restaurant inspection results, reports the New York Times.  The plan, to be put in place over the next two years, will use a letter-grade system similar to that of L.A. County, in which establishments are required to display an A, B, or C in a visible location (such as a window – see right, Jessica Simpson), to compliment information on the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene website. 

Currently food establishments in NYC are inspected once a year, but the new plan would change this.

Under the plan, restaurants receiving an A grade would stay on a yearly inspection cycle. Those with B grades would get two inspections, and those with C grades would get three. Those with public-health hazards will be closed until violations are corrected.

According to Bloomberg,

This new system will encourage the less sanitary restaurants to clean up — and won’t punish the good guys. As sanitation improves, so will business. The more residents and tourists can trust the food they buy in New York City restaurants, the more likely they are to patronize them.

The goal of restaurant inspection is to promote a safe food environment, which in turn may reduce the incidence of foodborne illness in a community. Restaurant disclosure systems are a means of communicating this information to the public, and enhance consumer confidence in food prepared away from home. Though more research needs to focus on the best way to communicate these results to the public, through grades, scores, smiley-faces etc., it does get the public talking about food safety.