South Australian restaurants are rejecting plans to place food safety notices on the doors of eateries in the state, following a successful ‘scores on doors’ scheme in New South Wales.
Independent South Australian MP Bob Such found 712 food outlets in the state were either warned or fined for breaches of hygiene standards this year and he is demanding action.
“For example in the United Kingdom they have a system called ‘scores on the doors’ where the inspection of eateries is placed not only on the restaurant door but it’s on the internet and other sources”. Mr Such told the ABC.
Fear of litigation is the primary concern preventing the implementation of a widespread ‘scores on doors’ scheme, currently South Australian councils are prevented from highlighting offending outlets unless they have been convicted in court of breaches of hygiene standards.
The NSW Food Safety Authority has successfully implemented a ‘scores on doors’ scheme through the Authority’s website, currently there are 1776 penalty notices displayed and a list of prosecutions the NSW FSA has undertaken. To avoid concerns over litigation the NSW Food Safety Authority has an appeals process where new information can be provided in order to remove incorrect listings or to update details where the business has been sold or disposed of after the offence was allegedly committed.
