The
average Thanksgiving dinner racks up about 3,000 calories per person, and that's without all the snacking and "testing" that goes along with it, which is another 1,500 calories worth. So it's sort of ironic that the White House chose this week to
unveil the new calorie label requirements promised under Obamacare.
The FDA rules, published Tuesday, aim to set a national standard for posting calorie information on virtually all menu items sold in chain restaurants, entertainment venues and vending machines. When fully implemented two years from now, they will bring uniformity to the patchwork of state and local calorie-posting requirements that exist today.
The rules, drafted under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, will apply to chains that have 20 or more locations operating under the same name and offering “basically the same menu items,” the FDA said.
“Increased awareness about the choices we make certainly does not mean that we always eat what is healthy,” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg wrote Tuesday on her blog. “But whether we choose to eat French fries or a tuna sandwich, those selections should reflect informed decision-making. That can only happen if the right information is available to make those choices.”
That includes, by the way, coffee shops. So you can't pretend anymore that your mocha latte with whip isn't really calories. The regulations also require some context: The menus will have to include a statement along the lines of "2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary." And consumers will still need to do a little work—if the calorie count applies to just one slice of pizza, they'll have to do the math if they eat two or three.
Whether people end up following these guidelines is going to be, of course, up to them. After all, would knowing that you could very well consume 4,500 calories in your Thanksgiving dinner have made you not go for the second helping of stuffing? But at least you'll be better informed of the choices you make on the next trip through the drive-through or to the vending machine.