Dec 30, 2013 11:27 AM EST By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Soon office workers will be "counting calories along with their change," under new regulations for vending machines included in Obamacare, the Associated Press reported.

The Food and Drug administration announced that in an effort to combat obesity, roughly 5 million vending machines nationwide will be required to display calorie information starting next year as part of President Obama's healthcare overhaul law, the AP reported.

In order to help curb obesity-related costs, vending machine goers will be able to see the calories next to their snack choice, similar to calorie count menus in restaurants, CNN reported.

The new rules will apply to more than 10,000 companies that operate more than 20 or more machines.

The FDA hopes this initiative will encourage consumers to go for alternative snacks with lower calories, however the program is expensive.

The government agency estimates that the initiative will cost the vending machine industry $25.8 million initially and $24 million per year after that, the AP reported.  

But the FDA says that if just .02 percent of obese adults ate 100 fewer calories a week, the savings to the health care system would be at least that great, the Associated Press reported.

Carol Brennan, owner of Brennan Food Vending Services in Londonderry, told the AP she is not looking forward to the new regulations and she doubts it will help consumers.

"It is outrageous for us to have to do this on all our equipment," she said. "How many people have not read a label on a candy bar? If you're concerned about it, you've already read it for years."

Brennan has five employees servicing hundreds of machines and said she'll be forced to limit the items offered in her vending machines so her employees don't spend too much time updating the calorie counts.

However, Kim Gould of Seattle told the AP that the new regulations will greatly benefit him as he usually doesn't read the labels on his snacks even after his choice pops out of the vending machine.  He said having access to that information will change what he buys.

"People have their reasons they eat well or eat poorly," Gould said.

The proposed rules give companies a year to comply; the industry group has asked the government to tack on another year, "as most vending machine companies employ few people." NY1 reported.

Only one in six people actually look at posted calorie information and those who do consume about 100 calories less, NY1 reported citing a 2011 study conducted in New York.

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