Would you think twice about your choice if fast food restaurants put calorie counts on their menus? The parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food (Yum Brands, Inc.) said recently that it will voluntarily add product calorie information to menu boards in its company-owned restaurants nationwide. They will also encourage their franchises to provide the same calorie information on their menu boards.

Similar initiatives have been popping up recently, but this is the first on a nationwide scale. California will require chains with at least 20 restaurants in the state to provide calorie counts on menus or indoor menu boards beginning in 2011. New York City also requires chains to post calorie counts on the menu.

Yum Brands has also decided to stop all advertising of their products on television programs aimed at children under 12 and will be launching some online exercise programs to help educate their consumers.

When asked if they will be following suit, McDonald's said it will continue using current methods of informing customers by providing nutritional information on its Web site, on select product packaging, in brochures available in its restaurants and on the back of trayliners.

Kudos to this company for taking steps to educate their patrons! One of my biggest pet peeves about eating out is when you can't find any nutritional information about where you're going- online, in the restaurant, etc. People who want to be informed so that they are able to make good choices aren't being given the facts they need. I understand that this can be more difficult for independent restaurants with one or two locations, but there are some big chains (and you know who you are!) who don't provide this information either.

Do you think restaurants should be required to provide this information? Are you less likely to go somewhere if you don't know the nutritional information about what you're eating?