document: FDA proposes calorie counts on menus WASHINGTON - Like it or not , many restaurant diners will soon know more about what they are eating under menu labeling requirements proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration . The requirements will force chain restaurants with 20 or more locations , along with bakeries , grocery stores , convenience stores and coffee chains , to clearly post the amount of calories in each item on menus , both in restaurants and drive-through lanes . The new rules will also apply to vending machines where calorie information is n't already visible on the package . The calorie counts will apply to an estimated 280,000 establishments and could be on menus by 2012 . Required as part of health overhaul legislation signed into law last year , they are designed to give restaurant diners information that has long been available on packaged goods cooked at home . The FDA estimates that a third of calories are consumed by eating out . '' `` We 've got a huge obesity problem in this country and it 's due in part to excess calorie consumption outside the home , '' '' says Mike Taylor , FDA deputy commissioner for foods . '' `` Consumers generally when you ask them say they would prefer to have that information . '' '' But do n't expect calorie shock when ordering at the movie theater , where a tub of popcorn can contain well north of a thousand calories - movie theaters are exempt , along with airplanes , bowling alleys and other businesses whose primary business is not to sell food , the FDA said . Movie theaters pushed to be left out after guidelines published last year included them .
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