New York Health regulations were supposed to take effect today, but have been pushed back to April 15th. The regulations are making it a rule that all national New York restaurant chains post calorie counts on their menus. The purpose is to help combat obesity by allowing restaurant patrons to be aware of what they are putting into their bodies. However, the New York State Restaurant Association is claiming this new "rule" violates the First Amendment, since it forces restaurants to put a certain "message" on their menus. As of now, Starbucks is the only major chain that has already put the new rule into effect.
I think that this rule will be successful in better communication with restaurant customers the calories that are included in the foods they are ordering, and will help them think twice about what they are putting into their bodies. I also think that this will hurt businesses that have lots of high calorie foods on their menus. It will be interesting to see if they rule date gets pushed back any further, and how restaurant chains are going to continue to react.
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