Junk food will now come with reminders of high calories, as a federal court upheld a decision by the New York City to require calories counts to be posted alongside prices in City restaurants.

The restaurant association lost the case on Wednesday and said it would ask the judge to stay the ruling pending an appeal.

Judge Richard J. Holwell of United States District Court in Manhattan, gave a decision that rejected First Amendment claims by the association, which maintained that the mandatory labeling requirements were impermissible.

“The ruling on the New York Board of Health's menu labeling regulation is extremely disappointing. Its flawed approach won't ultimately help consumers receive nutrition information that is useful to them,” said National Restaurant Association President and CEO Dawn Sweeney. “If this is allowed to go into effect, there could be a patchwork quilt of confusing and contradictory local regulation.”

Holwell said that any chain with at least 15 outlets nationwide must display calorie counts on menu boards, menus or food tags. The rule therefore covers 2,000 restaurants or about 10 percent of the 23,000 in the city.

“It seems reasonable to expect that some consumers will use the information disclosed…to select lower calorie meals…and these choices will lead to a lower incidence of obesity,” Holwell said.

Noting that 56.1 percent of New York City’s population was overweight or obese the judge insisted that restaurants play a huge role in an individuals’ diet.

Although the restaurant owners are disappointed with the decision, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, health commissioner of the city called Holwell’s decision “a victory for New Yorkers.”

“It will give people information they need, where they need it,” he said. “If you want to use it, great, and if you don’t, that’s entirely your right.”