The Health Care Bill puts calorie counts on U.S. menus: Will that change your order?

If you're asking how the new Health Care Bill effects you, here's an unexpected avenue it will take into our daily lives. More than 200,000 chain restaurants will be made to include calorie counts on their menus, according to a story this week in the Canadian Press.

Selfishly and secretly, I was disappointed when New York became the first location to make calorie counts mandatory on chain-restaurant menus. I've worked in food establishments, I know how much butter is brushed on my grilled artichoke (about half a stick). I didn't want to be constantly reminded of that when New York's law found its way to my state. But an oily artichoke is the least of this country's problems, so I got on board. If this measure would help people make healthier choices, then I was for it.

This month Panera restaurants got ahead of the national ball by announcing their decision to be the first national chain to post calorie contents on all their menu boards, all across the country, even though only a handful of states and cities currently mandate it. Smart move. But Panera has been more than a sugary dough factory for some time. The 2009 Zagat survey even ranked them as the healthiest option among large chains.

Panera's new menu boards are scheduled to appear in company-owned stores by next month. Will they increase the demand for healthy food? Based on a Stanford study, the New York Times reported that, "the average customer did buy lighter food from Starbucks after the calorie posting law took effect [in New York] on April 1, 2008." The results of the study found that the holidays outweighed the good influence of the new menus but during the rest of the year, the presence of calorie counts on menus inspired patrons to order about six percent fewer calories.