Yum Brands to Provide Calorie Information to Customers

Once again, California seems to be setting nation's pace on legislation: in the wake of a state law mandating restaurant chains to include calorie counts on menus or menu boards, Yum Brands has announced that it will do so nationwide starting in 2011.

Yum owns KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and other chains.

The company wants to see a national law modeled on California's. That makes sense, just as it made sense for California to pass a law rather than â€" as almost happened â€" having a lot of different local laws with varied provisions and standards, and asking chains to adhere to all of them.

Look for other chains to soon follow Yum's lead.