Mandatory Calorie Labeling To Induce Self-Loathing Before Seeing That Adam Sandler Movie

The requirement to display calorie counts on menus placed in ObamaCare by noted hipster and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Ct.) is making movie theaters nervous enough about popcorn sales to lobby for exemption, according to The Washington Post: (HT:Matt Yglesias)

Movie theaters and grocery stores are lobbying the Food and Drug Administration to avoid the proposed regulation. Theater chains led by Tennessee-based Regal Entertainment Group generate as much as one- third of their annual revenue from concessions. Congress didn't mention theaters in the law and the idea of regulating them never came up at legislative hearings, said Patrick Corcoran, a spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners, a trade group.

Naturally, the head of the National Restaurant Association and National Council of Chain Restaurants both want theaters to play by the same rules, noting that they are "competitors." The Post describes the horrors of asymmetrical information that might result should theaters get their way:

If concession stands are exempt, a customer of McDonald's would know that a Big Mac meal with a medium order of fries and a medium soft drink has 1,130 calories while a theatergoer at Regal Cinemas would not know that a large popcorn with butter-flavored topping packs 330 more calories than the fast-food combo. A Big Mac alone has 540 calories.

The level of ignorance shown these menu-board guilt trips indicates that consumers realize judging foods on their relative calorie count is like comparing baseball players by their batting average. Even among those who claim changed behavior, the more visible information doesn't do much.

More from Reason on government hating flavor here.