One of the least-noticed elements of Obamacare is a federal rule requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus starting in 2013. Similar laws have been enacted already on a state or local basis in several jurisdictions, but it’s only now that the policy is going national that it really makes sense for companies to start building strategic decisions around it.

That corporate decision-making is the key to whether the new rule drives meaningful gains in public health. If chains continue to emphasize maximum fat at minimum cost, eating habits probably won’t change much. But if the labeling regulations really emphasize the dangers of high-fat foods and the benefits of fruits and vegetables, it could encourage healthier eating.

One chain that seems potentially poised to benefit is Chop’t Creative Salad Company, a D.C. and New York chain that’s a personal lunchtime favorite of mine and sells what some would consider outrageously expensive salads. When I asked founder Tony Shure about the new law last week, he wasn’t incredibly eager to engage, noting that ‘very few people find politics appetizing,