The New York City Council has set next Wednesday, March 7, as the date for its hearing about the letter-grading inspection system inaugurated more than 18 months ago by the city health department to promote food safety in city restaurants.

For Sushi Yasuda, the exalted Midtown shrine to the pristine purity of raw sliced fish, posting anything less than the top grade of A from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would seem like a skull and crossbones in the window.

An NBC 5 investigation finds that more than 200 Dallas restaurants have not been inspected in at least two years. The city of Dallas has been scrambling to inspect hundreds of restaurants because of an NBC 5 investigation. NBC 5 discovered that the city's inspection system has broken down so badly that some restaurants haven't been checked in years -- not even once.

 The Daily Telegraph reports cockroaches, food past its use-by-date and filthy cooking equipment have been found in the kitchens of some of Sydney's popular eateries. The NSW Food Authority has "named and shamed" 13 restaurants and food suppliers since December 1 for putting their customers at serious risk of food contamination.