The Food and Drug Administration has proposed for calorie count to be included in menus, reports The Associated Press.

According to the menu labeling requirements released Friday, the FDA will “require chain restaurants with 20 or more locations, along with bakeries, grocery stores, convenience stores and coffee chains, to clearly post the calorie count for each item on their menus.”

“We’ve got a huge obesity problem in this country and it’s due in part to excess calorie consumption outside the home,” says Mike Taylor, FDA deputy commissioner for foods. “Consumers generally when you ask them say they would prefer to have that information.”

The new rules will apply to menus in an estimated 280,000 establishments by 2012, both in restaurants and drive-through lanes, and to vending machines if calorie information isn’t already visible on the package.

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