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New York now wants calories listed on menus

New York: As part of its assault on obesity, New York City's Health Department has a plan to require some restaurants to list the calorie content of their foods right on the menu, leaving diners no choice about seeing a meal's potential effect on their waistlines.

If the rule is approved, the brightly lit menu boards that hang over the counter at McDonald's might include both the price and the calorie count.

As currently written, the rule would apply only to eateries with standardised portion sizes that already disclose calorie information voluntarily. These are mostly national fast-food chains.

The proposal comes at the same time that the city plans to ban restaurants from cooking with artificial trans fats, a decision that has gained widespread attention.

Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said diners deserve to know up front when a meal has the potential to pack on pounds.

Executives from Wendy's warned that fast food menus — now studies in simplicity to keep lines moving — might become a giant mess, with tiny type needed to fit in calorie counts for every possible meal combination.

The Board of Health is tentatively scheduled to vote on the calorie-labelling proposal in December. If it is approved, the regulation would take effect in July 2007. — AP

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