Sixteen companies - including the fast food chains 快餐连锁店 Burger King and Kentucky Fried¹ Chicken, several supermarket cafes and caterers （餐饮）服务企业 serving food 提供食品 in colleges and military barracks 军营, have signed up to 签字 the calorie labelling scheme 标明卡路里的计划. The idea is that people who want to, will now have the information, to choose the healthy option.

Researchers in New York - where calorie labelling was made compulsory² 强制性的 - say people regularly underestimate³ 低估 how many calories, and how much fat, is in their food. And restaurant meals can be misleading 误导的 - hidden salt and sugar, and rich salad dressings⁴ 油腻的沙拉酱, can often make a meal that appears to be healthy - far higher in calories than diners 就餐者 expect. That makes it hard for people to know what they're eating - and easy to eat more than you need.

According to the latest figures, a quarter of adults in England are obese⁵ 肥胖 - and that worries the British government - as the cost of treating obesity-related 同肥胖症有关的 health problems on the National Health Service 国家医疗服务, is rising. Unlike in New York, however, the British calorie scheme is voluntary 志愿的 - its members are hoping that diners will vote with their forks 就餐者将用他们的餐叉去投票 - and choose to go where they know exactly what they're eating.