CHICAGO – McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner on Sunday criticized efforts to force calorie counts onto menus at the National Restaurant Association convention in Chicago.

 

The Chicago Tribune reported that Skinner was Sunday’s keynote speaker at the convention, which ends Tuesday.

 

Several jurisdictions, most notably New York, have been pressing restaurants to post calorie information at restaurants, especially QSRs with more than ten locations.

 

Skinner told the convention that the regulations are "redundant and flawed," noting that Oak Brook-based McDonald's Corp. has offered abundant calorie information for 30 years.

 

The Tribune reported that advocates of menu-board calorie counts say Web site information isn't available at the point of sale, and packaging data isn't read until after a purchase is made.

 

Skinner said that issues such as the calorie mandates, a slowing economy, rising commodity costs and increasing labor issues have created a “perfect storm” of issues for the restaurant industry, according to the newspaper.