The Montgomery County, Maryland Council has voted to require restaurants to post calorie counts of foods they sell. Once again, we have government passing “feel-good legislation” which supposedly is going to save people from themselves while at the same time is increasing the cost of doing business for the business owner. Increased costs for the business — increased costs for consumers.

First, do they have any objective evidence that someone who marches into a 7-Eleven looking for the chocolate covered cream filled pastry is going to be dissuaded when he learns it’s packing 1200 calories? Even if there was such evidence why should the role of government to protect the consumer from himself? It’s his responsibility to take care of his own health.

Next, this “problem” is something that should be solved by the market if the market wants it solved. So, if you go into 7-Eleven looking for the 1200 calorie donut but wanting to know whether you should choose the 1000 calorie doughnut and that information is not available you simply say to the business owner “hey, I’m going to stop shopping here until you tell me which donut has 1200 calories.” If enough consumers “vote with their wallets” problem solved.

It is shocking that government spends so much time and money trying to solve other people’s problems when it can’t get the big things like traffic, education, protection from criminals right.