Gluttons in denial about their diet will be overjoyed to hear that a federal judge has ruled against Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to make fast-food restaurants post calorie information. (Naturally, the New York State Restaurant Association, a lobby group representing the fast-food interests, isn’t too sad about it either. ) But the reasons for the decision seem surprisingly weak.

The judge on the case ruled that, since there were already federal regulations in place for giving calorie information (on a poster, or on a website, say) the New York law was attempting to supercede a federal one — pretty thin soup, in our book, given that any number of states and municipalities have tough restrictions which happen to overlap with laxer federal ones. (Environmental laws in Seattle are a lot tougher than the Bush-era EPA requires, for instance.) The city was taken aback by the ruling, using unusually strong language, which we happen to agree with: “It is unfortunate that some restaurants are so ashamed of what they are serving that they would rather go to court than post calorie information where their customers can actually use it,” the Health Department said.

Restaurant Group Wins Menu Fight [Crain’s]