Business & Tech

Should Grocery Stores Have to Display Health Inspection Grades?

Data on local supermarket inspections had many people in Three Village surprised. Should this info be easier to access?

Many residents in the Three Village area were surprised to learn a few weeks ago that many of the supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores and food marts they shop at aren't exactly the cleanest places in the world.

But should this come as a surprise?

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In New York City, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene famously hangs inspection grades in the windows of restaurants, employing a system much like school grades, where A is the highest and C the lowest they will display.

The Suffolk County health department inspects restaurants in the Three Village area, but does not post grades on windows.

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Grocery stores are inspected by the state's Department of Agriculture and Markets, which also does not post grades in window. Establishments are instead required to hang their results from the most recent inspection in their stores, and they should provide it to customers who ask the see the results. But, again, there is no real visible inspection grade that shoppers can easily see.

So, today we ask, is this something you'd like to see, or would a grade system be unfair to markets given the innocuousness of many of the common violations? Let us know in the comments.


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