Counting change and calories: Thanks to health law, vending machines to post nutritional info

CONCORD, N.H. – Vending machines will display calorie counts for each item along with the cost under new labeling regulations required under the federal health care overhaul law.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to release final rules early next year. It says that requiring calorie information to be displayed on roughly 5 million vending machines nationwide will help consumers make healthier choices.

As proposed, the rules would give companies with 20 or more machines a year to comply. But an industry group representing vending machine operators has suggested a two-year deadline and is urging the government to allow as much flexibility as possible.

The National Automatic Merchandising Association says complying with the law will be expensive for small companies with few employees and low profit margins.