DOH Chronicles: Restaurants Forced to Post Inspection Letter Grades

If restaurant owners are unhappy about an obesity tax on soft drinks, we can only guess how they'll react to this other much more direct form of government meddling. The city's Department of Health plans to force all NYC restaurants to post their most recent health inspection results for all diners to see. Like the system already in place in LA, restaurants will get a letter grade for their inspection, which they must post in a window or vestibule so that it is visible from the street. Apparently, the DOH has not fallen victim to recent city budget cuts:

"In addition, the commissioner said he hoped to hire 45 additional restaurant inspectors, adding to the current total of 140, over the next two years, at a cost of $4.8 million, to help implement the new program...'Every day more than a thousand people get sick from eating in restaurants,' Dr. Frieden said."

While some restaurateurs may see this as an inconvenience, ultimately, it could be a valuable public service to wary diners. Mostly though, we're just excited to see how New York restaurants will hide those C grades.
· Diners to Get a Quick Guide to Cleanliness [NYT]
· Restaurants & Stores May Face Fines For Wasting Energy [~E~]
— photo credit