WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- Seventy-seven percent of U.S. adults said they want calorie labeling for hot dogs, pizza slices and burritos sold at convenience stores, a survey indicates.
The survey, released by the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, indicated 81 percent favor having supermarkets provide calorie information for their prepared restaurant-type foods, such as rotisserie chicken, sandwiches and soups.
In addition, 70 percent of U.S. adults favor having movie theaters list calories on menu boards and 68 percent favor having chain restaurants list calories for alcoholic beverages, the survey found.
"Americans just want to know what they're eating," Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at CSPI, said in a statement. "Menu labeling at chain restaurants will be enormously helpful. But it doesn't make sense to create loopholes for certain companies, when that's not what Congress intended and it's not what people want."
The survey comes as the Obama administration is putting the finishing touches on a regulation requiring calorie counts at chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments.
To the dismay of many health advocates, a draft of the rule released last year exempted alcoholic beverages, movie theaters, hotels, stadiums and other venues that sell restaurant-type foods -- even though the 2010 law that established calorie labeling included those venues, Wootan said.
