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Scott Jagow: This summer, New York City forced some fast food restaurants to put calorie counts on their menus. I say some, because the law only applied to chains that were already volunteering nutritional information to customers. Other restaurants were exempt.

Well now, a federal judge is telling New York, no, you can’t do that. Jill Barshay reports.

Jill Barshay: At this Subway sandwich shop near Grand Central Station, you can read the calories right on the overhead menu.

But chain restaurants in New York can now take those calories down. The rule had only affected some chains, those that voluntarily disclosed calories. And a judge said that wasn’t fair.

Rick Sampson’s with the New York State Restaurant Association. He won the suit against New York City’s health department.

Rick Sampson: You’re getting to a point where government is going to tell you what you can eat and what can’t eat. And I really don’t think that that’s the place for government.

New York City is considering forcing all chain restaurants to post calories, not just the volunteers.

More than a dozen cities and states around the country are doing the same. California just passed a calorie posting law this week.

In New York, I’m Jill Barshay for Marketplace.