Calorie Counting at Chain Restaurants

Future visits to The Cheesecake Factory (and other major restaurants) may be quite a difference experience soon. Inside the new health reform legislation is language that will require calorie labeling on (chain) restaurant menus, menu boards, vending machines, and drive-through displays. The legislation applies to those chains with twenty or more outlets, and requires them to provide additional nutrition information upon request.

Some states have already passed similar legislation, but this new federal standard will supersede the varied local and state requirements. Interestingly enough, the National Restaurant Association dropped its longstanding objection to menu labeling last year and supported the recently passed legislation by Congress.

Margo G. Wootan, the director of nutritional policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, believes that this new piece of legislation is a huge victory for consumers and “one of dozens of things we will need to do to reduce rate of obesity and diet-related disease in this country. With the health reform legislation passed, Congress is giving Americans easy access to the most critical piece of nutritional information they need when eating out.”

I envision myself pouring over the published calories and having my menu decision influenced by this information. Do you think it will make a difference to you? Is ignorance really bliss? Or will this new law make for some new discoveries?

Either way, it will be quite interesting to see if this action helps transform portion size, offerings, and the American diet.