Soon Many Restaurant Menus Must Have Calorie Counts

Given a year's delay of their deadline, chain restaurants with 20 plus outlets breathed a collective sigh of relief when advised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration they would be given an extra year to comply with a ruling that they had to include calorie counts with their menus. With more than a third of all American adults being obese, the regulation was put into effect to give restaurant goers a chance to limit the fat and sugar-filled foods they ingest. The regulation to put calorie counts on all menus and menu boards extends to restaurants where patrons are seated, where take-out is offered, bakeries, ice cream parlors, movie theaters, amusement parks, and pizza places (whose labeling must include both slices and whole pizzas). It also includes grocery stores with eat-in sections such as Whole Foods, and large vending machine meal operations. It excludes drinks concocted and served at a bar or nightclub. The FDA's rules are an integral part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act passed by the Obama administration. Panera Bread Company was the first to comply with the ruling, and they found that their patrons changed their eating habits by switching to lower calorie meals. McDonalds and Starbucks Corporations have also complied to date.