The New York City Health Dept. may have found a new use for the bar code reading capabilities of smart phones, reports the New York Daily News. It is planning to add bar codes to restaurant inspection notices that could be scanned by smart phone cameras, triggering a link to the establishment's inspection report, including the list of violations.
The inspection are already available online but the bar code would let consumers access them quickly and easily. A similar strategy could be used by operators on signage and menus to provide everything from detailed descriptions to nutritional analysis.