NEW YORK – McDonald's restaurants across the country will soon get a new menu addition: The number of calories in the chain's burgers and fries.

The world's biggest hamburger chain on Wednesday is announcing that it will post calorie information on restaurant and drive-thru menus nationwide starting Monday. The move comes ahead of a regulation that will require major chains to post the information as early as next year.

"We want to voluntarily do this," said Jan Fields, president of McDonald's USA. "We believe it will help educate customers."