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"Call it one of more pleasant surprises to come out of last Sunday&amp;#039;s passage of the health care reform bill. Calorie counts, which have been appearing on restaurant menus in various locations either as a result of legislation or voluntarily by the restaurants themselves, are now law throughout the United States. Somehow, I had missed that. Was I just being oblivious? &amp;quot;Well, there were 2,000 pages of text in there,&amp;quot; Margo Wootan assured me. Wootan is the director for nutrition policy at Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has been pushing for calorie labeling on restaurant menus for nearly eight years.  When the law comes into effect,   restaurant with more than 20 outlets will be required to post the calorie counts for their foods on their menus. Another pleasant surprise: the law applies to vending machines, as well (good news for those trapped in cubicles all day and who routinely make meals from whatever happens to be in their break room snack dispensers). Roughly one year from now, the Food and Drug Administration will release proposed language for the new regulations, which will then undergo a public comment period during which both the public and the restaurant industry are expected to weigh in on the matter. It seems reasonable to assume the restaurant industry will weigh in heavily; they weren&amp;#039;t crazy about the idea until very recently.  Wootan said she frequently spoke with legislators who were supportive but, then &amp;quot;There was only one barrier: the restaurant industry,&amp;quot; she said from her office in Washington, D.C. &amp;quot;Usually, when I talked to policy makers they thought it was a great idea, and then they talked to representatives from the restaurant industry.&amp;quot; The National Restaurant Association finally started coming around last year and, in a release issued Monday, praised the provision. &amp;quot;We know the importance of providing consumers with the information they want and need, no matter in which part of the country they are dining,&amp;quot; said the release. &amp;quot;This legislation will replace a growing patchwork of varying state and local regulations with one consistent national standard that helps consumers make choices that are best for themselves and their families.&amp;quot; No matter. While the restaurant industry&amp;#039;s new found enthusiasm for the measure is laudable, their inherent ability to identify on which side of the customer service counter the French fry has fallen is even more impressive. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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