New Health Care Law Will Put Calorie Information on Vending Machines

As part of Obama's new health care law, companies that are servicing 20 or more vending machines will be required to display the caloric information of the products in the machines.  The new labeling regulation will be released some time this year, and companies will have a year to comply. The goal is to help consumers make healthier choices, since the savings to the health care system would be enormous if just .02 percent of obese adults consumed a minimum of 100 fewer calories per week.  There is debate about whether this will be effective or not, since the food items have the caloric content in them already. While this would be a substantial monetary investment for the 10, 800 companies that operate vending machines, information is power, and the more information that is available to consumers, the more likely they will make better choices.