Overview

The basic idea is for restaurants to be inspected at least once a year by the state. Based on the inspection, the restaurants will be given a letter grade that represents how sanitary the restaurant enviornment is. The highest grade ('A') is earned if the restaurant is clean, up to code, and free of violations, a 'B' means that the restaurant is clean, but has some minor issues that needs to be fixed and a 'C'... well a 'C' means the restaurant shouldn't be open.

Learn more

Why Is This Important?

The purpose of this grading system is to help consumers make smart choices about which restaurants are safe to eat at and which restaurants should be avoided to avoid food poisoning or other illnesses cause by unsanitary conditions. All restaurants would be inspected and given a grade that must be posted on the restaurant's window and the grade would be put into a public database, where anyone could access and view the current grade of the restaurant.

Learn more

Does It Work?

Both New York and Los Angeles adopted a similar grading structure and both locations have seen a drastic decrease in food related illnesses and food-borne outbreaks. The inspections can be stressful on the restaurant owners, but that pushes them to hold their business to a higher standard and strive for an 'A' rating. Restaurants that do get an 'A' rating see a rapid increase in foot traffic, at the expense of the less sanitary 'B' and 'C' ratings.

Learn more

Where Is This System In Place?

Currently, the state of New York and the city of Los Angeles have this very system in place. Both locations manage and operate the system in a similar fashion and both have had similar success. Michigan's Health and food industry has continued to grow year over year, and with that, Michigan has seen an increase in Vibrio and Salmonella infections, which have decreased in New York and LA, since the adoption of the grading system.

State Benifits

If a restaurant recieves a 'C' rating, then it would be required to pay a continued operation fee to the state, or be shut down.

Consumer Benifits

Consumers get to enjoy the increased quality that the higher grade restaurants will continue to offer to keep their 'A' or 'B' rating, while not having to worry about food related illnesses.