New York City brings back menu labeling.

The New York City Board of Health once again voted to require the city's chain restaurants to list calories on menus and menu boards in late January.

A previous regulation was blocked by a federal judge who said the measure, which only required calorie information for restaurants that already posted or made available nutrition information, was pre-empted by federal law. APHA was one of many groups to file a brief in that case in support of the city's menu regulations.

The latest regulation requires chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets nationally to list calories by March 31. It will apply to about 10 percent of all New York City restaurants, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Health advocates hope the measure will help consumers make better meal choices.

"Obesity and diabetes are the only major health problems that are getting worse in New York City," said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH.

Other local efforts to make calories available on menus and menu boards are under way in Philadelphia; San Francisco; Montgomery County, Md.; New York's Nassau and Westchester counties; and Oregon's Multnomah County. The full New York City regulation is online at www.nyc.gov/html/doh/ html/home/home.shtml.