Letter grades have been used in Los Angeles County restaurants for the past 11 years. This measure has been credited with reducing the number of hospitalizations due to food-borne illness in the region, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
CSPI, which has been lobbying cities and state legislatures to adopt such measures, lauded NYC's move. In 2008, the organization's review of 539 restaurant inspections in 20 cities found that two-thirds of restaurants had "critical" food safety violations.--Karlene Lukovitz