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FDA Tells Restaurants to Post Calorie Counts: Will We Make Better Food Choices?

New FDA guidelines call for nutritional information to be posted for foods sold via vending machines and at chain restaurants (AP) AP

(CBS) Can you handle the truth - about the calorie content of the restaurant meals you eat?

You're about to find out, thanks to new FDA guidelines that call for restaurants to post nutritional information about menu items in a "clear and conspicuous manner." 

The guidelines, which affect chain restaurants and food sold from vending machines, call for eateries to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards.

The FDA issued the guidelines as part of the health-care bill President Obama signed into law last March.

According to the FDA, Americans consume about one-third of our total calories on food prepared outside of the home, and we are, by and large, unaware of the awesome number of calories in much of it.

The FDA hopes that accurate nutritional information will help us make better food choices.

About two-thirds of adults and one-third of children between the ages of two and 19 are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and certain types of cancer.


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