Some might say that New York City restaurants are getting their just deserts.  Others might say it’s a case of too much information (namely those on the “dirtiest restaurants” list).  According to an Epoch Times article, this is the third year that NY Senator Jeff Klein has released lists of New York City’s cleanest and dirtiest restaurants based on Department of Health inspections.  However, the senator says that he’d like to switch from a points system to a letter-grade system to make the results clearer to diners.

It turns out that this policy is old hat in Los Angeles, where a 20% decrease in food-borne illness is being attributed to the use of a letter-grade system to alert diners to the restaurant’s cleanliness.  With so many other factors at work, though, I find it hard to make the direct correlation between letter grades and illness.  Furthermore, according to The Gothamist, the New York State Restaurant Association claims the letter grades are too vague to be of much use to consumers—and they don’t offer a picture of the restaurant’s cleanliness over time.

Whether or not the letter grades have a direct affect on public health, the policy of publicizing the best and the worst is probably a good idea.  In fact, I imagine that many restaurant operators welcome this as a way to showcase their dedication to food safety.  And while the idea of playing favorites may hold some water, the press release was held in front of Mario Batali’s Del Posto Ristorante, not itself among the “dirty dozen,” but guilty of a good number of health code violations.

What do you think?  Should restaurants be called out on their dirty past?  And when corrections have been made in those restaurants, will consumers “forgive and forget” or will the reputation damage be too much to overcome?