How much for that burger?

In California on Tuesday last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill requiring restaurants with more than 20 locations to post nutrition information – calorie counts, to be exact – on menus by 2011.

The issue here, of course, is access.

This law targets national fast-food and fast-casual chains, most of which already provide nutritional information. However, such information is usually in brochures tucked discreetly in plastic holders behind the cash registers or on the Internet.
 
Most customers probably don’t surf the Wendy’s Web site before swinging through the drive-thru.

The California action is the first state law of its kind, and it echoes a New York City health department initiative making similar requirements of city restaurants with more than 15 locations nationwide.

That initiative, which allows health inspectors to fine noncompliant businesses, took effect in July after a restaurant association took the city to court, arguing in part that such demands restrict their ability to do business. Restaurant groups are making similar arguments in California.

Please.

Restaurant groups made similar arguments against smoking bans and requirements that they post health inspector grades. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen many Burger King or Hardee’s locations shuttered up as a result.
A close friend in the city tells me that the experience of walking into Starbucks and seeing in the fluorescent display case the calorie difference between the banana bread and coffee cake (guess which one is higher) right next to prices is jarring, and it certainly affects her choices.

She also cautioned me that the initiative, in her mind, really affects those who are health-conscious and prone to calorie-counting to begin with. As a rule, perhaps, it isn’t suddenly creating health-conscious consumers.

Nevertheless, the California law is a firm affirmation of the role excessive fast-food consumption plays with regard to obesity prevalance. Indiana – currently the 11th-most obese state in the nation – should be taking notes from number 41.

Education and information are the two starting points for reducing rates of obesity and obesity-related chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and type II diabetes in this country. Posting calorie counts is not a panacea.

There are some out there who simply don’t know how many calories are in meals that often occupy a deceptively small amount of space on a plastic tray.

Some would say it’s Big Brotherish or paternalistic. I call it giving consumers more information, another tool in making purchase choices and consequently another incentive for businesses to provide items that aren’t just cheap and quick, but healthy, too.

I understand the appeal of fast-food as much as anyone, and calorie counts on menus probably wouldn’t help much in the way of eliminating my biweekly craving for french fries or hamburgers, but the goal isn’t to eliminate fast food from the diet anyway.

I’d consider calorie counts more of a reminder that, when scanning brightly lit menu displays, some moderation couldn’t hurt.