Dirty Aussie restaurants? There's an app for that

A new iPhone app will tell you if a Sydney restaurant has been fined for breach of food safety standards.

The application, FoodWatch NSW, brings the Food Authority's name-and-shame list to your fingertips by using the iPhone's GPS to show you a list of restaurants near your location that have been added to the list.

The software was developed by mogeneration and sources the data from the NSW Food Authority list on its website.

Chief executive officer of mogeneration Keith Ahern said that, when members of the company saw the list on the website, they thought the information provided was really valuable and useful.

"While I think a lot of restaurants aren't happy about it [the list], you can see the information and make your own decision," he said.

Clearly aware of the potential controversy FoodWatch can create, Ahern points out that the application merely presents freely available information in a more readily accessible way.

"We're not making any editorial decisions on the data, we're really just publicising what is freely available. It's not going to victimise any businesses disproportionately," he said.

The tool gives the user the ability to view the list any time, wherever the user is.

Some of the main features include a map where one can view, pan and zoom around to all the nearby penalised restaurants.

While one can browse the list of restaurants without an internet connection, one would need to be online to update the list and view the map.

And just like the Food Authorities' name and shame list, it won't show penalties that are older than 12 months, Ahern said.

A NSW Food Authority spokesman said it did not have a particular view of such applications, but would encourage the public to use the information wisely.

"We don't endorse any of those products," he said. "We just provide the information for anyone to use. We just encourage people to be cautious because the information is frequently changed. They should check back to the original source before they make a decision.

"People can do what they do with public information."

The application is free from the Apple iPhone app store.

Mogeneration has previously developed other Apple iPhone applications such as Xumii, which helps one stay connected with all social networking friends; Lingopal, a multilingual phrase book; and CoastalWatch that provides one with live video footage and images of the Australian coast from a network of beach surf cams.

Applications developed for the iPhone that use government website information have attracted controversy in recent months.

In March this year, RailCorp threatened legal action against a software developer, Alvin Singh after he developed an iPhone application allowing users to view Sydney train and ferry timetables.

The application was based on information from the RailCorp website. RailCorp has since been ordered by NSW Premier Nathan Rees to co-operate with the developer.

Another iPhone app in the US, Offender Locator, which specifically tracked people on the sexual offender list, was recently pulled off the app store by Apple.

- © Fairfax NZ News