Part of the health care bill that was signed by President Barack Obama into law on Tuesday is a legislation that requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to show the calorie count of their food items on menus, menu boards and drive-throughs.  They will also need to show how many calories a healthy person should eat in a day.  Vending machines will also be required to show calorie information.

The new law mandates the US FDA to draft new national standards for menu labeling that will affect some 200,000 fast food and other chain restaurants.  The FDA will enforce the new law and will have the powers to initiate criminal prosecution if operators don’t follow.

According to Senator Tom Harkin, the reason behind this move was to help consumers see the calorie information at the time they make their choice.

Americans tend to eat more and worse when they eat out partly because they don’t know what’s in fast foods.  This legislation will provide Americans access to the most critical piece of nutrition information they need when they eat out.  This in turn will help reduce the rate of obesity and other diet-related diseases in the country.  So the next time you eat you’ll see that a Big Mac packs around 490 calories, coffee drinks can range from 20 to 800 calories while burgers can range from 250 calories up to 1,000 calories.

However, this law is not welcomed by some because they think the government is interfering too much in people’s private decisions, and there is insufficient evidence that menu labeling results in healthier eating.