Adding Calorie Counts to Menus

When consumers pick up a bag of chips at the grocery store, they can find exactly how many calories are in a handful.

Now, a proposed law, named the LEAN Act, would make it mandatory for restaurants around the country to tell you how many calories are in each menu item.  LEAN stands for Labeling Education and Nutrition.

"Michigan is well aware that they're behind the times as far as healthy lifestyles," said Hope Rollins of the Michigan Public Health Institute.

Congress is considering national standards. All restaurants with more than 20 locations would be required to provide information, such as the amount of calories, fat and carbohydrates in any given food item. Several areas around the country already require that labeling.

The Michigan Restaurant Association would rather see one national standard.

"When you do it on a local basis, city-by-city," said Andy Deloney of the Michigan Restaurant Association. "You're going to have a patchwork of different regulations with different requirements, and different violations enforcement actions. It's better to just have one singular standard that everybody can live by."

Inside Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing, the kitchen staff doesn't currently tally up the calorie counts of food items, but say they could be persuaded.

"I think it's important for businesses to be honest about it," said Kitchen Manager Lissa Blon. "And whenever someone asks me what our ingredients are, I'm very honest and open with them."

Some say if they get used to the labels at chain restaurants, independent ones may get nudged toward providing the information too (even if it means simply adding up the calories in the bun, burger and cheese for a cheeseburger meal).