Fewer Calories Via More Data

The trend towards obesity among Americans has an air of mystery to it.  Many causes have been suggested.  These include overzealous advertising, hormones in drinking water, less active lifestyles, overprocessing of food, and increased portion sizes.  Having weighed its options, the United States Food and Drug Adminstration ("FDA") has decided to bet on the latter directly by proposing final rules mandating that restaurants and vending machines provide accurate caloric information on the foods and alcohol they sell.  This decision places a heavy burden on a single potential cause for the obesity epidemic.  The FDA hopes that easy availability of caloric content will tip the scales in a positive direction by nudging consumers towards healthier lower calorie food and smaller portions of higher calorie food.  Though both food inputs and exercise outputs are crucial to combating obesity, the FDA should be lauded for helping to satisfy consumers' huge appetite for quality information about food.