Many American restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and movie theatres now have to clearly display food calorie counts as part of a push to trim expanding waistlines and control healthcare costs.
Almost 37 per cent of US adults are obese, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity raises the risk of preventable, life-threatening illnesses - including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer - and is responsible for billions of dollars in annual healthcare costs.
Americans consume one-third of their calories away from home and proponents of the rule, more than 15 years in the making, say it gives people information to make healthier dietary choices.
"Menu labelling allows people an easy way to cut hundreds of calories or more with simple, split-second decisions," said Margo Wootan, vice president for nutrition at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, or CSPI, a leading proponent of calorie disclosure.
A recent review of nearly 30 studies from the Cochrane Collaboration nonprofit public interest group found that menu labelling helped people reduce calories by about 50 calories per meal, on average, according to CSPI. Menu labelling also has been shown to spur restaurants to reduce the calories in their foods, the group said.
The rule - part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, popularly known as Obamacare - affects restaurants, grocery stores and other food sellers with 20 or more locations that sell ready-to-eat foods.
Australian Associated Press
