Comment and SocietyA recent scandal over food hygiene ratings shows how deception destroys trust within society. We need to fight back, says Jonathan R. Goodman 20 November 2024 Simone RotellaUntil a few weeks ago, I relied on restaurant hygiene ratings when deciding where to have dinner. The score given by the UKs Food Standards Agency ranges from 0 to 5, where 0 indicates urgent improvement is required. It is traditionally a good predictor if you are fastidious or if you just want to avoid nasty parasites like Giardia.Yet in October, the BBC revealed some businesses misrepresent their hygiene scores, posting a 5 when their ratings are as low as 0. The signal of hygiene I relied on wasnt always reliable.This was just one incident that had