Restaurant hygiene scores go online

HYGIENE ratings for 1,000 French restaurants are now available to check online - with plans to extend the scheme next year to every outlet in France that serves food.

The new service is based on daily spot checks carried out by inspectors from the agriculture ministry, and so far the results for 800 restaurants in Paris and 200 in Avignon have been made public.

Three scores are possible: "good", "acceptable" and "needs improvement". Restaurants falling into the latter category have three months to become compliant with food hygiene regulations before another spot check is made.

The results so far have been plotted on an interactive map, allowing diners to check how clean their chosen restaurant is before visiting.

Each restaurant is also sent a window sticker after the visit, with a QR code that can be scanned by a smartphone to bring up the page displaying the hygiene score and the date of the last inspection.

The agriculture ministry says the scheme is "a strong incentive for the food industry to continuously improve the sanitary conditions prevailing in their establishments".

However, showing the hygiene sticker in the window is optional - meaning restaurants with a poor score are under no obligation at present to tell people about it.