The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a plan on Wednesday, requiring large chain restaurants in the city to provide nutritional information on printed menus and menu boards.

Under the plan, Los Angles chain restaurants which have 15 or more locations across California would have to provide basic nutritional information per item on menu boards.

Last month, the California Assembly approved proposition SB 1420, under which restaurants with 20 or more locations in the state would have to post calorie information on their menus and menu boards.

If Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the bill, which would take full effect in 2011, California would be the first state to require restaurant chains to show calorie counts of their menu offerings.

Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar, who authored the motion, said the city will only enact a local ordinance if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger does not sign the proposition.

The governor has said he will not sign any new bills until the Legislature agrees on a state budget.

"We thought it was of great importance to move forward and not wait for Sacramento to act," Huizar said. "This ordinance will simply give families the same kind of nutritional information they get when they shop at a supermarket." Sacramento is the capital of California.

But Huizar did not say when the local ordinance would take effect.

The California Restaurant Association supports SB 1420.

"Restaurants have been voluntarily providing nutritional information to their customers in a variety of ways for years," said Jot Condie, president and chief executive officer of the trade group.

The state bill would require 17,000 chain restaurants to provide information on calories, grams of saturated fat, grams of trans fat, carbohydrates and milligrams of sodium per item.

But opponents said the bill would add a burden to restaurants and do no good to diners.

"It's an imposition on restaurants, including added costs, when most people who are managing their weight know pretty well how many calories are involved," said Republican Senator Bob Margett who opposed the bill.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2008)