Calorie Labeling for Restaurants

Calorie labeling for restaurants has been gaining attention in the public and legal spheres since New York City became the first municipality to adopt regulations requiring menu [Page 76]labeling in 2006. Since then, many other local and state municipalities have adopted or are contemplating similar laws. Furthermore, purposed federal menu labeling legislation is under review at the time of this writing. Regulations for menu labeling vary by location but generally require restaurants to post calorie information for standard items on the menu board, printed menu, individual food tag, drive-through, or some combination of these. Current legislation applies only to chain restaurants, for which two working definitions have been established: restaurant chains with 15 or more locations nationally or restaurant chains with 20 or more locations ...