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Montgomery County Council member George Leventhal's resurrected proposal to mandate that certain chain restaurants post calorie information on their menus or menu boards amounts to ill-timed, unnecessary local meddling.

His proposal, which went nowhere when it was introduced in 2007 but passed with multiple amendments when reconsidered Tuesday, will require chain restaurants that have more than 20 establishments nationwide to display calorie information on their menu boards and make other information, such as fat and salt content, available to those who ask for it.

An estimated 640 eateries in Montgomery County would have to comply, but little, independent places wouldn't. The enforcers would be health department inspectors, who are already busy enough, and repeat violators could be shut down for three days.

Consumers have a right to nutritional information and the fast-food industry has been responding, largely without the threat of a government clubbing. Consumers have gotten smarter, more demanding.

Federal legislation that matches Leventhal's is attached to the health care reform legislation that passed the House of Representatives and is now before the Senate.

Few would argue that the intent of the menu-data mandate — better information for health-conscious consumers — is misguided. Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for men and women. That heart disease knows no geographical boundaries is why the matter is best left to federal regulations, similar to those that govern nutritional labeling for packaged foods.

Leventhal points out that waiting for a federal law to pass and be implemented could take as long as three years; in passing its own legislation, the law could be in place within a year. Sometimes being first isn't always best.

It makes sense for restaurants in all states to have to comply with a single set of rules, not a patchwork of county-by-county or state standards.

While federal health care reform may never pass, it's worth waiting just a couple of months to see what the Senate does with the bill. Federal labeling regulations can be extracted and considered separately. Nutritional data standards are best handled nationally and the fast-food industry has been responsive.