Eating out - there's an App for that!

Have you ever had a meal in a restaurant and wondered how hygienic it is, and how well-managed food safety is? Well now you can find out with a new 'app' developed for the iPhone where you type in the name of the place where you would like to eat and it shows how many stars for food safety the premises has. It is as easy as pointing your phone to the premises! You can also use this 'app' anywhere in the UK, providing the local council is part of the scheme.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council already publishes on its website details of food safety management all food premises that are inspected by the District Council's Environmental Health team. Each premise is given an award according to the risk-rating. Businesses receive either an Acceptable, Bronze, Silver or Gold award.

The District Council uploads all its data for local food premises on a national website as part of the 'Scores on the Doors' scheme, where it converts the awards to stars rating for national consistency. Now, this data is still available to the public, but it has been made more easily accessible through the new iPhone app.

Councillor Jackson, Portfolio Holder for the Environment Service said: "This is a great new way that makes it even easier for people to find out how their favourite restaurant has scored. 'Scores on the Doors' has proved to be a useful way of motivating food business operators to improve standards of food hygiene and for residents and customers, it provides a useful information service."

To download the app for free go to the iTunes appstore and search for Food Hygiene under the lifestyle section or go to http://bit.ly/ukfoodhygiene

For those residents that don't have an iPhone this information is still available on the District Council's website and those without internet access can visit any of the Council's one-stop-shops at the District Council's headquarters in Stratford, Southam and Alcester and also at the libraries in the District where internet access is available.  And if these technological advances are still too much you can always call the District Council on 01789 267575 and ask the Council to look up a premise for you.