By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – Subway, Amato’s, Margaritas, Applebee’s, Denny’s, DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant and the Maine Restaurant Association objected Thursday to a bill that would require chain restaurants to list the calories in their food.

Restaurants said such a “Big Brother” law would be bad for business, forcing them to shoulder extra costs by posting calories on menus. It would also cost them business if customers perceived their food as unhealthy.

Speaking for the bill was Gov. John Baldacci’s administration and about every health group in Maine. Proponents said consumers, who eat out more than ever, need to know if one meal they’re buying has as many calories as they need for an entire day.

The Maine Medical Association, the Maine Cancer Society, the Maine Heart Association, the Maine Nurse Practitioner Association, the Maine Center for Public Health and the state Bureau of Health all spoke in favor of L.D. 110, saying it would give consumers information to help them keep their weight under control.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, said the bill is one recommendation from a commission that studied obesity in Maine, a growing epidemic. The percentage of Mainers who are overweight or obese has jumped in the past 10 years, especially among children, Craven said.

Meanwhile, taxpayers are paying excessive amounts – an estimated $357 million in MaineCare and Medicare in 2003 alone – on health problems related to obesity, Craven said.

In testimony read in her absence, Dr. Dora Mills of the Bureau of Health said posting calories would be a good business practice for restaurants.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released new dietary guidelines. As those guidelines become better-known, more consumers will understand that they need to base their food choices on calories. Most men ages 31 to 50 shouldn’t eat more than 2,200 calories a day, while women in the same age group should have no more than 1,800 calories a day.

Considering that studies have shown dietitians themselves have underestimated how many calories are in restaurant food, consumers need to know whether they’re eating a meal that has 50 to 75 percent of their daily requirement – or one that has 25 to 30 percent, Mills said.

But restaurant owners, as well as Weight Watchers in Maine, disagreed.

Jacquelyn Conn of Weight Watchers of Maine said that sometimes, as in her case, people aren’t ready to make lifestyle changes to maintain a healthy weight.

She said she knows that if she “super-sizes” her food, “I’m getting more calories than if I don’t.” Instead of burdening restaurants, the state should inspire people by telling them about “successful losers,” people who’ve lost weight without surgery, Conn said.

Steve DiMillo said that when people eat at his Portland restaurant they don’t want to think of calories; they’re looking forward to food they don’t eat at home, even if it’s full of fat and calories.

One of his good customers is a Portland heart surgeon “who loves fried lobster. I’m sure he doesn’t eat fried lobster at home,” DiMillo said.

Kevin LaBree, whose Rockland realty firm manages Denny’s restaurants in Maine, estimated it would cost him $32,000 a year, instead of the usual $16,000, to update Denny’s menus with calorie counts.

Jeff Perkins of Amato’s complained that the idea sounds simple, “but in reality it’s complicated.” Figuring out how many calories are in subs and pizzas would involve more “than putting a sticker on a menu.” Gary Hilliard of Subway restaurants in Maine said the bill would unfairly target chain restaurants.

The legislative Business, Research and Economic Development Committee could make its recommendation on the bill when the committee meets Tuesday. The bill will then go to the House and Senate.