Beside the mouth-watering pictures of food on menus, many consumers now take calories into account when they consider what to order. Now, the federal government has made sure you won't forget to count calories every time you eat out.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced new rules requiring restaurant chains and vending machines to post the calorie content of food and drinks listed on their menus. By November 2015, calorie labels will be part of consumers' lives whether they like it or not.

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People may start thinking twice about buying their favorite food when they see how many calories come with it. This will also prompt restaurants to cook healthier food to keep their customers buying.

The rules cover many establishments such as theme parks, coffee shops, bakeries and convenience stores. Restaurant have one year and vending machines have two years to comply with the new rules. Exempted from the rules are foods served on transportation like airplanes and trains.

The new rules are part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. It also requires that menus remind people the 2,000 calorie diet is the basis for daily nutrition. Other nutritional information such as sodium, sugar, fats and others must be provided when a customer asks for it.

Panera Bread Co. is the first restaurant chain to voluntarily offer calorie information to consumers. New York is the first city to enact a calorie labeling law for restaurants. Today, many restaurant chains already have calories posted on menus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said more than one third of U.S. adults are obese. That equals to 78.6 million people.

Obesity is related to many serious conditions, including heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Obesity is caused by consuming excessive calories. Eating more calories than you burn-off leads to weight gain, and may result in obesity since it becomes a habit. The calorie labels on food menus will soon be constantly reminding us of this.

Tagscalorie, diet, obesity, FDA, fast food