Along with individual mandates and health insurance exchanges, health reform includes a provision to get chain restaurants to list their calorie counts by next year.
Tucked within the sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system, labeling calorie information will become a requirement of chain restaurants and vending machines with more than 20 locations.
New York City already has such a provision and states such as California and Oregon have measures set to take effect next year. Some studies show labeling leads to people to pick healthier options, while others have found that alone, they do little to curb people's eating habits, the WSJ reports.
Folks at Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity called the provision "an historic development" according to the NY Times, noting that too often people chow down on fast food without realizing how unhealthy it is for them.
Other supporters say such information can be empowering and help all of us make better eating choices. I'll be honest: it's not that I don't realize that Big Macs contain mega calories. It's just, well, perhaps I don't want to know exactly how much.
How about you?
AP photo