CHICAGO The American Medical Association recommended Wednesday that chain restaurants post nutritional information on their menu boards.
The AMA said the nutritional information on menus should be easy to understand and include the amount of calories, fat, saturated fat and sodium that each menu item contains.
“By calling on fast food and chain restaurants to provide information on the nutritional quality of food products and menu offerings and encouraging healthier food choices, we hope to improve the diets and health of Americans,” Dr. Joseph P. Annis, an AMA board member, said in a statement.
Quick-service restaurants have balked at including nutritional information on menu boards. In New York City, McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, White Castle and Quiznos said they do not plan to put calorie counts on the menus, as required by a regulation the city adopted last year. The regulation is being challenged in federal court.
The major chains say they already list nutritional information on their websites or on in-store posters. They contend that menu boards would be too confusing for customers to read if they listed nutritional information.
