If you go out to eat in New York these days, you’ll probably see a bit more information on the menu than you’re used to. Earlier this year, legislation was passed which requires restaurant chains to post the calorific content of their dishes - and those numbers may well come as a bit of a surprise.

In this special podcast, Karen McColl talks to one of the men who headed this change, Dr Tom Frieden - commissioner of public health in New York, and a nutritionist, Professor Marion Nestle, about how this is working out in the US. David Payne talks to Dr Mike Rayner - founder and director of the British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group, about how this initiative might translate to the UK.

Also on food labelling: read Karen McColl’s feature “The fattening truth about restaurant food” on bmj.com.