New at Reason: Steve Chapman on Menu Labeling Laws and the Nanny State

October 12, 2009

One of the pet campaigns of the public health scolds is forcing restaurants to provide accessible nutritional information about their offerings. In 2008, the city of New York passed a law mandating calorie data on fast-foot menus and menu boards, on the assumption that better knowledge would make for healthier eating. But as Steve Chapman writes, the early evidence suggests that people don't choose high-calorie fast foods because they don't know any better. They choose them because they like them, and they don't really care if others disapprove.

View this article.