NEW YORK, NY February 21, 2008 —The day is approaching when you’ll walk into a Starbucks, look up at the menu board, and see not only how much your mocha frappucino costs, but how many calories it contains. That’s if a new city regulation kicks in as scheduled, about six weeks from now. Today, restaurant lobbyists will be in federal court trying to get a restraining order while they fight it. As WNYC’s Fred Mogul reports, the new law affects not only large national and international chains, but some local companies, as well.

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REPORTER: The flagship Golden Krust fast-food restaurant in the North Bronx is getting ready for the lunch rush. The team is grilling a small flock of jerk chicken, cooking up a cauldron of cabbage, and heaping veggie rice into deep, steam-table pans. On the stove is bubbling their signature Caribbean dish: Oxtail stew.

AMENT: We use a very trimmed product. Fat content is kept to a minimum.

REPORTER: Steve Ament is Golden Krust’s vice president of field operations. He says oxtail stew accounts for about 15 percent of sales -- and about 500-to-900 calories, depending on portion size.

AMENT: We look at it almost as lobster tail. When you want lobster tail, you're going to buy lobster tail. And when our customers want oxtail, they're going to get oxtail. They may think twice about making sure they don't miss their gym appointment or doing a little extra walking, but we feel there really shouldn't be an issue.

REPORTER: Golden Krust is one of the few local chains that will have to comply with the city’s new menu board regulations. That's because it has about 120 outlets. Not much compared to McDonald's or Pizza Hut, but more than the city's cut-off of 15 outlets. Smaller chains are not subject to the new law. Ament says Golden Krust has spent about 30-thousand dollars having its food tested for nutritional content. And other costs lie ahead.

AMENT: Our new menu boards are going to be priced anywhere from 3-to-4 thousand dollars a piece, which will be a pretty good cost factor. Most of our franchisees are small, independent businessmen, and they will incur that cost.

REPORTER: Restaurant lobbyists defeated an earlier version of the regulation in court and hope to again, with a new legal challenge. Chuck Hunt, from the New York Restaurant Association, says food establishments are serving their customers just fine, and government should butt out.

HUNT: Many of these companies have been providing this information in another format -- either on their website, on a poster, on tray liners, on food wrappers -- this information has been available, and people that want it can get it.

REPORTER: Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden says there’s no substitute for putting the information front-and-center, where you can’t miss it -- and that means plastering it onto menus and menu boards, not putting it on posters, pamphlets or tray-liners.

FRIEDEN: Ninety-five percent of customers don't see calorie information, even after they've bought their meals. Making that information prominent will better inform consumers and help them make healthier choices.

REPORTER: Dan Horan has mixed feelings about this. He wears the crown at Papaya Kings, as its president and CEO. Horan thinks calorie posting is a good idea, but he thinks the city shouldn’t mandate it. In fact, even though the new rule doesn’t affect Papaya King, which only has 7 outlets, Horan plans to voluntarily comply it anyway.

HORAN: This really isn't that difficult for us. Course we're not being required right now, but people want to know, and a hot dog, happily, doesn't have a lot of calories. I think it's about 130 calories.

REPORTER: Carlos Figueroa is on his day-off from delivering ice, and he thought he’d stop by Papaya King for a quick snack. He doesn’t come in often, and when he does he only gets one plain hot dog with mustard.

FIGUEROA: I gotta protect the ol ticker here, you know what I’m saying?

REPORTER: So, would seeing the calorie content up there next to the price and the picture of a shiny hot dog change Figueroa’s choices?

FIGUEROA: Nah [laughs]. It wouldn’t affect me. I eat – I eat. That’s the way it is. I’m not much into that weight stuff.

REPORTER: Another customer nearby says posting calories wouldn’t change his mind, but, sure, why not stick the information up there where people could see it? It couldn’t hurt to know how many calories are in his food. As long as they don’t tell him what’s in it.

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The Health Department estimates that about 10 percent of the city’s restaurants will be subject to the new law. Enforcement is to become a routine part of restaurant inspections, and will begin on April 1st, unless federal judges decide otherwise.