FDA unveils guidelines for restaurant, vending machine calorie counts

WASHINGTON

Calorie count guidelines unveiled

Consumers will know the number of calories in food from many chain restaurants and vending machines under draft guidelines released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration. The menu labeling guidelines require that calorie information be posted in the same size type as the menu item or price, whichever is larger, according to the guidelines, which were authorized by the landmark health care legislation passed earlier this year.

Vending machines must include the information in a "clear and conspicuous" manner so consumers can review it before making a purchase, the guidelines say. The calorie count listed also must be accurate within 10 calories.

The requirement applies only to restaurants and other food-selling chains with 20 or more locations and vending machine operators with 20 or more machines, but smaller businesses can voluntarily opt in. The FDA won't begin enforcing the labeling requirement until the rules are finalized some time after a 45-day public comment period.

LOS ANGELES

Truck crushes house, killing family of three

A runaway truck hauling tons of gravel flew off an embankment Tuesday after its brakes failed and crushed a home, killing a man, woman and child, authorities said. The truck careened from State Highway 154, barreled across a street and hit two parked cars before plunging down a driveway, over the embankment and onto the house, Santa Barbara County fire Capt. David Sadecki said. The truck driver was treated for a minor facial cut after the vehicle landed on the 50-year-old, 1,000-square-foot, wooden home just outside the Santa Barbara city limits.

MIAMI

Danielle weakens, then strengthens

Danielle again became a hurricane with maximum winds near 75 mph late Tuesday after a day of fluctuations in its strength, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The hurricane reached Category 2 strength earlier Tuesday, but gradually lost punch throughout the day. Its maximum sustained winds were near 70 mph in the late afternoon. Danielle was about 795 miles east of the Leeward Islands and is moving west-northwest near 18 mph.

HARTFORD, Conn.

Craigslist adult ads draw fire from AGs

State attorneys general nationwide are demanding that Craigslist remove its adult services section because they say the website cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced Tuesday that he and colleagues in 16 states have sent a letter calling on the classified advertising site to get rid of its adult services category. The attorneys general say Craigslist is not completely screening out ads that promote prostitution and child trafficking. Florida was not listed among the 16 states.

Elsewhere

SAN DIEGO: A failure by Navy air traffic controllers to follow standard procedures contributed to a midair collision that killed seven Coast Guard members and two Marines off Southern California last year, according to a Coast Guard report released Tuesday.

BUFFALO, N.Y.: About 380,000 pounds of roast beef and ham made by Tyson Foods unit Zemco Industries in Buffalo and distributed to Walmart delicatessens nationwide have been recalled because of possible contamination by harmful bacteria, officials said Tuesday.

Times wires