Will Calorie Counts Work?

(Flickr pic by Weighty Matters.)

Back in May, I wrote about the calorie counts on New York fast food (and coffee shop) menus, and wondered whether the idea would make it out West.

Turns out it did. As the L.A. Times reported last week, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has adopting a similar plan in unincorporated portions of L.A. County.

The paper writes:

"Most people do not have a clue how many calories they are taking in when they have a milkshake or a double hamburger with cheese and fries," Yaroslavsky said. "This is an incentive for people to make the right dietary choices."

The proposal would require chain restaurants in unincorporated parts of the county to include a caloric breakdown for all their offerings. The issue is expected to come before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday; the supervisors will be asked to call for the drafting of an ordinance. If all goes smoothly, the measure could be in place by the end of the year, Yaroslavsky said.

The California Restaurant Assn. does not oppose the measure, although it has concerns about how it would be carried out.

"We understand that consumers want it," said Jot Condie, president and chief executive of the organization, which represents 22,000 chain outlets in the state.

But he said it should be up to restaurants to decide how best to make this information readily available to consumers. He said he also wants to see a uniform policy applied throughout the state to cut down on retailer and consumer confusion.

First taco trucks, now this! Fine, Zev, we get the hint. Hello, Jenny Craig?