Great news, friends. Restaurants, supermarkets, coffee shops and other similar establishments will soon be required to display calorie counts on menus and menu boards.

Translation: no more guessing about how many calories are in that soup, sandwich, cookie.

Menu labeling is a HUGE help, am I right? I'm pretty health-conscious, but I'd never have guessed the calorie counts of many items at my favorite coffee shop. At one popular establishment, a side order of corn bread has over TWICE the calories as a side order of fries. [1] Sure, sometimes I'll still buy those items. But now that's my choice to make. 

Eighty percent of Americans support menu labeling in chain restaurants, and 81% support having restaurants provide information about prepared foods. [1] 

Parents know what a difference having this kind of information makes. Families eat out almost twice as often as they did in the 1970s, and kids consume about 1/4 of their daily calories at fast-food and other restaurants. [2]. Eating out isn't the result of lazy parenting; it's a function of how busy families are. I'll often pop into a local restaurant to get my kids a snack, and it really helps to know that one option has many, many more calories than another. It's supports me in my mission to keep my family healthy. 

Labeling will make a big difference when it comes to the health of our families, too. "Menu labels don’t just advise us of the number of calories in our food, it can also help establish smarter eating habits overall. Providing the calorie count and nutritional content enables consumers to do easy side-by-side comparisons and make healthier food selections when they place their orders. Having this information readily available is critically important because healthy eating can prevent and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease – our nation’s no. 1 and most costly killer," the American Heart Association notes. It just makes sense all around. 

Some details you should know:

• Food establishments with over 20 outlets are required to follow the new rule, beginning in May 2017.
• And in fact a few states, counties, cities and establishments (Starbucks, Panera and others) have already implemented menu labeling. In one of these cities, New York, 82% of consumers reported that labeling had an impact on what they ordered. [4]  
• Establishments covered include any that are "part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items." They include "bakeries, cafeterias, coffee shops, convenience stores, delicatessans, food service facilities located within entertainment venues (such as amusement parks, bowling alleys, and movie theaters), food service vendors (e.g. ice cream shops and mall cookie counters), food take-out and/or delivery establishments (such as pizza take-out and delivery establishments), grocery stores, retail confectionary stores, superstores, quick service restaurants, and table service restuarants." [5] Mobile locations (i.e. trains and airplanes) are not covered. But franchises are. 
• And foods covered are defined as "restaurant-type food", i.e. "foods that are usually eaten on the premises, while walking away, or soon after arriving at another location." [5]
• The rule is part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. 

Check out the complete rule and guidance from the FDA. 

Yes, menu labeling is a big win! But we have so much more work to do. Join the Good Food Force to help build healthier schools and communities. Find us on Facebook.