Calorie Counting

McDonald's chief executive Jim Skinner spoke out against regulations that require chain restaurants to post caloric and nutritional information somewhere where the customer can actually find it. At the recent NRA convention (that's National Restaurant Association, not the other one) in Chicago, he called the pro-calorie count activists "professional naysayers" and "CAVE people — Citizens Against Virtually Everything," and said McDonald's has been posting nutritional info for 30 years. In New York, the first calorie count law went into effect in April, and a similar bill is pending before the state Legislature for Southern California chains. Skinner also said there's a "perfect storm" brewing for the restaurant industry with growing regulartory mandates, a slack econmy, soaring food costs and increasing labor issues: "I don't have to tell you times are tough." [Chicago Tribune/EaterWire]