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Comment and Society

Our trust in society is eroding. We need to fight back

A recent scandal over food hygiene ratings shows how deception destroys trust within society. We need to fight back, says Jonathan R. Goodman

By Jonathan R. Goodman

20 November 2024

×îÐÂÂ鶹ÊÓƵ. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Simone Rotella

Until a few weeks ago, I relied on restaurant hygiene ratings when deciding where to have dinner. The score – given by the UK’s 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 .

Yet in October, the BBC some businesses misrepresent their hygiene scores, posting a 5 when their ratings are as low as 0. The signal of hygiene I relied on wasn’t always reliable.

This was just one incident that had…

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