Friday, September 23, 2005

Nabisco Nabisco has a number of products in its 100-calorie line, including versions of Oreos, Chips Ahoy and Wheat Thins.

100-calorie snacks are convenient, but at what cost?

While nutritionists like the caloric limit, they maintain the processed food still is unhealthy.

By Susan Houston / Raleigh News & Observer

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They do the math.

Concerned about how many calories you're taking in, but too busy to actually count them? Then you are exactly the consumer that the major food companies had in mind when they introduced individual portion, 100-calorie snack packs about a year ago.

Nabisco has several products in its line, including the Planters Peanut Butter Crisps it introduced this month. Versions of Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Cheese Nips and Wheat Thins have also made their way into the diminutive packages. You can pick a pack of Pringles with a calorie count of 100, too.

But should you? That depends on how important it is to you to have someone else count your calories.

On the plus side, the 100-calorie snacks are a convenient, easy way to keep track of calorie intake. They can help dieters limit their portions and parents keep their children's intake of snacks or sweets in check, especially when stashed in a desk drawer or lunchbox.

"They're convenient and not high in calories, obviously. It's a nice, controlled, easy snack," says Beth Porter, director of administrative services at the Central YMCA in Raleigh, N.C., and busy mother of three daughters, ages 10, 11 and 13. She buys the snacks on sale and packs them as the "crunchy part" of a lunch that includes a sandwich and fruit for her daughters and herself. "I need to control mine, too."

"Consumers are loving the 100-calorie line," says Laurie Guzzinati, corporate affairs senior manager in the biscuits division of Kraft's, Nabisco's parent company. "It's part of the broad umbrella of our Sensible Snacking portfolio."

But convenience comes at a hefty price: The 100-calorie packs are often more than twice as expensive per ounce as the products they mimic. Here is a price check: A local grocery store is selling the 1-pound bag of Chips Ahoy for $3.49 (a unit price of 21.8 cents an ounce), while the six-pack of 100-calorie bags of Chips Ahoy Thin Crisps goes for $2.69 (a unit price of 55.3 cents an ounce).

Also, in meeting the 100-calorie limit, the snacks or sweets inside the packs are sometimes pale imitations of the originals. The 100-calorie Oreos, for example, are 20 mini "chocolate thin crisps" -- that is, just the cookies without the creamy middle.

"It's not an Oreo," Guzzinati clarifies. "It's a chocolate wafer cookie. We offer consumers the Oreo experience, but it's not the same product."

And although they may add up to just 100 calories, they are still highly processed snack foods. As the Center for Science in the Public Interest opined in its May Nutrition Action Healthletter, "Smaller portions don't make snacks good for you."

Because they seem to show that the snack companies are interested in helping consumers limit their portions, local nutritionists want to like the 100-calorie packs. But they have misgivings.

Yes, but ...

"Consumers are having a hard time with portion control, so if it satisfies them, it's a benefit," says Carol Mitchell, registered dietitian with the Wake County, N.C., Cooperative Extension.

But will it satisfy them? She's afraid not. "If they really want Oreos, my guess is that they really want that creamy filling, too," Mitchell says. "If they're unsatisfied and they eat something else, it's really defeating the purpose."

While the smaller packs may help some consumers relearn what a reasonable portion size is for snacks, "they really don't help in achieving a healthy overall diet," says Barbara Laraia, research assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.

If nutritionists are torn about the 100-calorie concept, other consumers can be much harsher.

"I personally don't see the point," says Jeremy Selwyn, creator of Taquitos.net ( www.taquitos.net) and a self-appointed snack critic. The site has reviewed hundreds of snacks in the past five years, including the 100-calorie packs. "I know there's people that swear by those things. But if you have the discipline to stop at 100 calories, you don't need them. If you don't have the discipline, you're just going to go eat three or four more."

Can you stop at one?

While none of the 100-calorie snacks he has tried are "terrible," Selwyn still doesn't recommend them, mostly because of their higher prices. "It's basically a gimmick, but people go for gimmicks," he says.

But one person's silly gimmick is an industry's smart marketing plan to meet consumer demand. Busy consumers concerned about calories were looking for someone to help them do the math, says Stephanie Childs, spokeswoman for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.

"We live harried lives. We have crazy days," she says. "It's much easier to have somebody count for you."

So, silly or sensible, the 100-calorie packs are here to stay, it appears.

You can count on it.