New York City Restaurants Recieve New Calorie Rule

New York City officials passed a law on Wednesday April 16th, that will give them the authority to require restaurants having 15 or more establishments nationwide to display the caloric values of their meals.

This law that requires the disclosure of the caloric values of the restaurants meals was passed due to the governments interest in providing consumers with the nutritional information in the foods that they are consuming, dictated by U.S District Judge Richard Holwell. This new move to inform consumers about the nutritional value of the foods served in restaurants it to take effect on Tuesday April 22nd.

The New York State Restaurant Association filed a lawsuit, that would prevent the city from dictating the display size of the caloric information of the foods, making note that such a rule would be a violation of free speech.

The city requires that restaurants post caloric information about their meals on menus and menu displays in the same font size and format that is used to display the name or cost of the particular menu item. Richard Holwell noted that 56.1 % of New York City's population was either overweight or obese, and that restaurants play an increasing role in an individual's diet.