Starting today, calorie counts on menu will be mandatory for restaurant chains and other food outlets that have 20 or more locations, including places like grocery stores, movie theaters, amusement parks and even vending machines.
Several major chains have already started doing this, places like Starbucks, McDonald’s and Panera, since the FDA had been expected to finalize the regulation years ago. Although studies are unclear on whether calorie labeling on menus affects the food choices people make, the labeling is expected to both push the food industry and restaurants to adjust their products so they aren’t so high in calories, and change people’s attitudes about nutrition, possibly getting them to cut some calories from their diets.
