US food agency defines new rules for listing calories on menus

Chain restaurants, retail food outlets, and vending machines in the United States will be required to list the calorie content of the foods they sell, under new regulations released on 25 November by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Under the new rules1 2 establishments will also be required, at their consumers’ request, to provide written information about the total calories, total fat, calories from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, fiber, sugars, and protein contained in the items listed on their menus and menu boards.

In an official blog Margaret Hamburg, FDA director, said that when people eat out they have been shown …