More changes may come to restaurant calorie counts

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this week that would change some of the rules regarding calorie counts on restaurant menus.

Under the Obama-era rules, set to be in most restaurants by May, menus would have to list the calorie counts of food items, clearly, and up-front.  

The bill, introduced by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, would alter the language slightly to allow calorie counts to go in different spots, depending on the set-up of the restaurant. 

"Flexibility for businesses to meet the requirements of the rule and present this calorie information in a way that makes sense for them and their customers,” said McMorris Rodgers.

However, there’s another change in the bill’s language that some fear could cause confusion for restaurant goers.  

The bill changes requirements that say calories displayed must be the “calories contained in the standard menu item.” In this version, it could be that, or restaurants could opt to display “the number of calories per serving,” along with the number of servings in an item.  In other words, a 700-calorie burger could be displayed as “700 calories,” or as “350 calories per serving: 2 servings per burger.”

Some experts say that would allow for muddying of a system that’s already tough for many people.

"Because we know most consumers have a difficult time counting their own calories and knowing how many calories they need in a day,” said Orlando dietitian Carley Rusch.

The full bill can be viewed here.