Starbucks and Chipotle Disclose Key Nutrition Information (CMG, SBUX)

On Tuesday, two popular restaurant chains announced new measures to give customers more information that will allow more informed, health-conscious decisions before placing an order

First, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX). In advance of a new law requiring chains with more than 20 stores to publish calorie information on its menu boards, the company announced that it’s rolling out the new boards early—next week, in fact.

This means that next week, you’ll know that your Venti Caffe Mocha has 340 calories and that delicious piece of Banana Pecan Walnut Loaf Cake has 380 calories. Aren’t you glad to know that your trip was an assault on your waistline to the tune of 720 calories or somewhere around one-third of your daily caloric intake? (But it has nuts and nuts are healthy, right?)

Don’t worry, there are more sensible options to be had and now you’ll be able to find them. Not only will the menu boards have nutrition information but the pastries will too. No excuse not to count your calories anymore.

In an apparent attempt to pre-empt the multitudes of triple digit calorie counts on its menu, the company would like to remind you that it added sugar-free syrup in 1997; and in 2007, made two percent milk the standard.

And in its final, “don’t blame us” announcement, Starbucks said that nutrition information has been on its website and iPhone app; and for those less than technological, in a brochure available at its stores.

Next up, Chipotle (NYSE: CMG). A chicken burrito with the normal fixins’ is about 1,000 calories, but that’s not the announcement.

The company announced Tuesday that it’s introducing a fresh nutritional acronym into the mainstream—GMO. Never heard of GMOs? Most people haven’t but it stands for genetically modified organisms. Sounds kind of creepy but don’t worry—you consume a lot of them every day. Basically, most of what you eat comes from seeds that were modified in a laboratory.

Companies like Monsanto (NYSE: MON) have sold engineered seeds to farmers for years. Some, for example, are resistant to weed killers so farmers can spray an entire field without killing the crops.

Armed with this knowledge, you might be tempted to rid yourself of GMOs but if you are, you’re not going to be eating at Chipotle. How does a burrito bowl with pork carnitas, sour cream, and guacamole sound? That’s about all you’re going to get that’s GMO free.

The company claims that it has a goal of reducing the amount of GMOs but since almost all food in the United States comes with GMOs, it will be next to impossible. It will, however, take steps to reduce the amount of GMOs over the next couple of years.

Will Starbucks and Chipotle take a hit by disclosing what most restaurants have tried to bury for years? Each believes that it will build trust in the brand and with increasing health consciousness being the in-thing, the companies are probably right.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing Tim Parker had no position in any of the companies mentioned, hates coffee, but loves burritos.