Well hooray for California for being the first state in the United States to put a law on the books that requires restaurant chains to post their food values.¬† This new legislation requires any restaurant chain with more that 20 locations to post the calories, saturated fats, carbohydrates and sodium in any food item they sell.¬† This is similar to the new law in New York City that required the same.¬† I wrote an article about it back in April when the law went into effect.¬† I called it “Fast Food Calorie Counting” and also showed a breakdown of calories from some of the well know chains.¬†

I say hooray since this is the first state to take on the problem of overweight and obesity with a link to foods that are too convenient.¬† Each chain (and this is over 17000 stores in California) needs to show menus with calories in the restaurant itself as well as the drive-thru lane.¬† Any restaurant that doesn’t comply will be fined per incident $50 to $500 by the county health department.¬†

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that this legislation was part of the state’s push to set a national model for nutrition and to fight obesity which he estimates costs his state over $28 billion in health related costs, lost productivity and worker compensation claims.¬† He says “This legislation will help Californians make more informed, healthier choices by making calorie information easily accessible at thousands of restaurants throughout the state.”¬†

The majority of the country is now in the overweight or obese category and continues to grow at an alarming rate.  Laws of this nature will help consumers make better choices ad force restaurants to offer healthier fare.  I see this as a win for state as well as a win for consumers and wish all states or maybe even the federal government, take on similar legislation.