Restaurant calorie postings slow to spread in Southeast

Southeastern states slow to force restaurant calorie postings

Health advocates and lawmakers say the mandates to force restaurant chains to post calorie counts on their menu boards have a long way to go before getting widespread support in the Southeast.

“Tennessee is a Southern state and you tend to get a lot of the resistance on mandating anything to any kind of business,” said John Bilderback, program manager for Step ONE, an obesity prevention program of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.

And in Georgia, “At the state level we’ll probably be one of the last to adopt anything like that,” Rep. Mike Coan said. “I’m very pro-business, and I knew if this ever got started in Georgia we would put on businesses an undue burden to try to meet these requirements.”

This will be interesting health policy to watch.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: Sen. Jeff Sessions in spotlight with Obama's court pick of Sotomayor

ARKANSAS: Duke Energy to plant 1 million trees on 1,700 acres to generate carbon offsets

FLORIDA: State Democrats back CFO Alex Sink for governorship

GEORGIA: Budget cuts threaten state courts

KENTUCKY: Blog asserts editorial pushes 'silly claim' that state has $1 billion shortfall

LOUISIANA: Student test scores show 'exceptional growth' statewide

MISSISSIPPI: Pressure increases for lawmakers to pass state budget

NORTH CAROLINA: Lawmakers don't want Navy's landing field in eastern part of state

SOUTH CAROLINA: Judge to hear stimulus showdown lawsuit today

TENNESSEE: A look at how House Democrats killed the charter school bill

VIRGINIA: McDonnell accepts GOP nomination for governor

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