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If you live anywhere in California, you will be surprised to see a change at fast food restaurants soon - disclosures in plain sight of how many calories are in that meal you just purchased.

California restaurants may have been exempted from the County of Origin Labeling Rules that began taking effect after September 30, 2008, but those who have 20 units or more are now required under a Bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 1, 2008 to post caloric information on menus and indoor menu boards, and provide brochures with nutritional content upon request by January 1, 2011.

Over 17,000 restaurant locations in the State will be affected by the Bill. If restaurants think they have three years, however, before other restaurants start posting this information, they are probably kidding themselves.

No other state may be as health conscious as California and as restaurants begin posting this information, they will clearly have an advantage over their competitors, that is, so long as the nutritional and caloric information about their food is good. Restaurants who fail to post this information ahead of the law going into effect may be shunned in the belief that their food is not healthy, even if it is.

Yum Brands, Inc. has already announced that its U.S. divisions including Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, and A&W All-American Food will become the first national restaurant chain to voluntarily begin posting their calorie information on menu boards nationwide in their company-owned restaurants. Their franchisees will be encouraged to do the same.

In late September 2008, members of congress also introduced a bill to make calorie counts a national standard.

The question is whether individual restaurants will follow the example laid down by the Yum Brands fast food company owned restaurants, or even exceed the information required by the California law.