A provision in last year’s federal health care reform bill requires all food-serving establishments with more than 20 outlets to post the calorie count of every item on the menu so customers know exactly what they’re getting themselves into. The FDA is taking nationwide an idea that some cities and counties had already put in place. It seems like a good idea in theory, but studies show that calorie counts on menus just make people say “ah, screw it” and order the same amount of food that they would have without the calorie posting–or more. A new study in this month’s International Journal of Obesity shows that children, too, fall into the same delicious caloric trap. [More]
