Compromise Made for Calorie Lists on Menus

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, restaurant chains and consumer advocates reached an agreement on legislation that would require calorie information on restaurant menus or display tags at salad bars and buffet tables.

The requirement is included in legislation introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.) to overhaul the nation's health-care system -- a sweeping bill that faces many hurdles.

Under the agreement, chains with 20 or more restaurants would be required to list calories on their menus. In addition, those restaurants would be required to give consumers, upon request, more nutritional information, such as fat, sugars, sodium, cholesterol and carbohydrates.

Steve - I guess one can call this a baby step in the right direction. Of course, we must assume that:

1. the consumer understands calories, which many do not
   
2. the consumer takes it upon him/herself to ask for the detailed nutritional information, which is highly unlikely