Western and Yum! Brands Inc. are making it easier for students to choose wisely when they fill their plates.

Yum!, which owns Pizza Hut and other restaurants, announced last week that all of its U.S. chains would begin voluntarily putting product calorie information on their menu boards, according to a Yum! press release.

The decision will reach all stores eventually, Dining Services Director Tim Colley said. So, Western’s Pizza Hut in the DUC Food Court will have products’ calorie information on its menu board eventually.

The calorie information will be put on menu boards beginning this year and the project will be completed by Jan. 1, 2011, according to the Yum! press release.

Western is making its own effort to make nutritional information available.

Dining services has created color- coded Just4U tags to show students healthy options in the Fresh Food Company, said Bonnie Holt, a registered dietician who works at Western.

A lot of students felt they couldn’t find healthy options, but they can, she said.

The tags, which have names such as vegetarian, fat free, calorie counter and hearty whole grain, will be changed as different foods are served throughout the day, Holt said. The tags were put in Fresh Food Monday.

Some research shows that posting nutritional facts helps diners make healthier choices, said Karen Mason, associate professor in consumer and family sciences.

Mason doesn’t venture out on campus much, but she hears what her students say about nutrition on campus, she said. They tell her Western has a long way to go when it comes to nutrition.

“I appease my students and tell them that ignorance is bliss because they don’t know what’s in their food,” Mason said.

Mason thinks dining services’ effort to put out nutrition information will help, she said.

More information about nutrition at Western can be found on the dining services Web site, Holt said.

Reach Marianne Hale at news@chherald.com.