Rules that could require restaurants to display health and safety compliance on signs outside their doors are being formulated in Detroit.

Walking by restaurants in New York City, one sees letter grades posted on windows and doorways — A, B, C or pending. Detroit City Council member Scott Benson is proposing something in a similar vein here.

Advocates say displaying restaurants' health inspection results in some way incentivizes improvement and offers transparency for diners who want to eat somewhere safe. Benson said he wants to prioritize the health of Detroit residents, following the region's hepatitis A outbreak.

Some, including restaurant operators, have argued that an A-B-C grading system is an inefficient practice with the potential to hurt the industry. Detroit wouldn't use the controversial letter grades like New York, Benson said — a move that could help assuage industry concerns.

Benson and city officials emphasize that an ordinance hasn't been officially proposed or written, so there's no finalized plan to share. But they are discussing how Detroit could implement a compliance-based sign system.

Benson requested that the city's health and law departments start drafting rules, according to a City Council agenda item last week. The departments are working to provide recommendations on how to proceed, the health department said in a statement, but an ordinance isn't being written yet.

A Detroit system could take shape with color-coded signs outside restaurants and other food businesses instead of letters, Scott Withington, Detroit's manager for environmental health, and health department spokeswoman Tamekia Nixon said in an interview. The colors would likely correspond to whether or not a restaurant is in compliance with city food health code, Withington said. It would not reflect a judgment on the restaurant's service or taste of its food, he added.