CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Office workers in search of snackswill be counting calories along with their
change under new labelingregulations for vending machines included in President Barack Obama’shealth care
overhaul law.Requiring calorie information to bedisplayed on roughly 5 million vending machines nationwide
will helpconsumers make healthier choices, says the Food and Drug Administration,which is expected to
release final rules early next year. It estimatesthe cost to the vending machine industry at $25.8 million
initially and$24 million per year after that, but says if just .02 percent of obeseadults ate 100 fewer
calories a week, the savings to the health caresystem would be at least that great.The rules will apply to
about10,800 companies that operate 20 or more machines. Nearly threequarters of those companies have three
or fewer employees, and theirprofit margin is extremely low, according to the National
AutomaticMerchandising Association. An initial investment of $2,400 plus $2,200in annual costs is a lot of
money for a small company that only clears afew thousand dollars a year, said Eric Dell, the group’s vice
presidentfor government affairs."The money that would be spent to comply with this — there’s no return
on the investment," he said.Whilethe proposed rules would give companies a year to comply, the
industrygroup has suggested a two-year deadline and is urging the government toallow as much flexibility as
possible in implementing the rules. Somecompanies may use electronic displays to post calorie counts
whileothers may opt for signs stuck to the machines.Carol Brennan, whoowns Brennan Food Vending Services in
Londonderry, said she doesn’t yetknow how she will handle the regulations, but she doesn’t like them.She has
five employees servicing hundreds of machines and says she’ll beforced to limit the items offered so her
employees don’t spend too muchtime updating the calorie counts."It is outrageous for us to have to do
this on all our equipment," she said.Brennan also doubts that consumers will benefit from the calorie
information."Howmany people have not read a label on a candy bar?" she said. "If
you’reconcerned about it, you’ve already read it for years."But KimGould, 58, of Seattle, said he
doesn’t read the labels even after hischoice pops out of a vending machine, so having access to
thatinformation wouldn’t change what he buys."People have their reasons they eat well or eat
poorly," Gould said.Standingwith his 12-year-old daughter near a vending machine in a medicalclinic
where he bought some drinks last week, he said he only makespurchases at the machines when he’s hungry and
has no other options."How do we know people who are buying candy in the vending machines aren’t eating
healthy 99 percent of the time?" he added.Asfor the new labels, Gould said he wasn’t sure what the
point would be,and that they would just be "nibbling around the edges of the problem."TheFDA also
is working on final rules for requiring restaurant chains withmore than 20 locations to post calories
information, something somecities already mandate and some large fast-food operations have begundoing
voluntarily. A 2011 study in New York found that only one in sixcustomers looked at the information, but
those who did generally orderedabout 100 fewer calories. A more recent study in Philadelphia found
nodifference in calories purchased after the city’s labeling law tookeffect."There is probably a subset
of people for whom thisinformation works, who report using it to purchase fewer calories, butwhat we’re not
seeing though is a change at an overall population levelin the number of calories consumed," said Brian
Ebel, the study’s authorand an assistant professor at New York University’s department ofpopulation health
and medicine.Ebel said he wouldn’t be surprisedif the vending machine labels end up being equally
ineffective, but hesaid it’s possible that consumers might pay more attention to them for acouple of
reasons. In some locations, a vending machine might be theonly food option, he said. And reading a list of
calorie counts on amachine will be less overwhelming than scanning a large menu at afast-food restaurant
with other customers waiting in line behind you, hesaid."It could go either way, but I think there’s at
least somereason to think it could be slightly more influential in vendingmachines."Even without the
calorie counts, consumers already haveways to make healthier choices from vending machines. The
vendingmachine industry group launched its "Fit Pick" system in 2005, whichincludes stickers
placed in front of products that meet healthyguidelines for fat and sugar content. The program is used by
nearly14,000 businesses, schools and government agencies, as well as allbranches of the
military.___Associated Press writer Donna Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.Copyright 2013
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