Does Government Mandate of Calorie Counts Go Too Far?

March 29, 2010 — -- Soon, in this fast-food nation, ignorance will be no excuse. By federal fiat, you'll have no choice but to know how fattening some of your favorite meals are. Heart burn may follow.

Eye-popping calorie counts, right in your face. Knowing that the Baconator Triple at Wendy's weighs in at 1,330 calories. In just one sandwich. That's two-thirds of the recommended daily intake of 2,000 calories for an average adult woman. It's half of the recommended daily calories for a man.

Not much better is Sonic's Supersonic Cheeseburger, with a hefty 898 calories. Taco Bell's chipotle steak taco salad boasts 900 big ones. The breast-leg biscuit meal at Popeyes checks in at 700 fat-filled calories.

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The new requirement is buried deep inside the health care reform that President Obama just signed into law. It's modeled on rules New York adopted two years ago. It requires all dining chains with 20 outlets or more to put calorie counts on their menus.

"This way you could have an educated idea of what you're going to eat," said Olga Diaz, a New York City diner, in a street interview. "You know because if you see something like the French fries, we shouldn't be eating the calories, you say 'OK, I'm not going to have the French fries, I'll have the salad or whatever.'"

But is the government going too far?

In Santa Clara, Calif., Ken Yeager, president of the county board of supervisors, is pushing a ban on toys in children's meals. He said the promise of a toy car or tiara could lure kids to fattening foods.

"Ten out of 12 meals that are associated with the promotional toys are the high-caloric, high-fat, high-sodium meals," Yeager said.

But a backlash is already under way. In Philadelphia, protesters rallied against a proposed tax on soda of two cents per ounce of sugary drink. The proposed tax was designed to fight obesity.

"Whether you drink soda or not, it's not going to affect your health and you're going to pay," said Frank Maimone, the owner of Pizza Rustica in Philadelphia.