Health
Candice Choi
AP Food Industry Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Obsessing over
calories alone has left dieters with an empty
feeling.
The calorie counting that defined dieting
for so long is giving way to other consider-
ations, like the promise of more fiber or
natural ingredients. That is chipping away
at the popularity of products like Diet Coke,
Lean Cuisine and Special K, which became
weight-watching staples primarily by strip-
ping calories from people’s favorite foods.
Part of the problem: “Low-calorie” foods
make people feel deprived. Now, people
want to lose weight while still feeling satis-
fied. And they want to do it without foods
they consider processed.
The new thinking is
that eating foods with
more protein or fat will
make dieters less likely
to binge later
Kelly Pill has been dieting since her son
was born in 1990. But the 54-year-old resi-
dent of Covina, Calif., made changes to her
approach in recent years. She doesn’t eat
Lean Cuisine microwavable meals as often
because she doesn’t find them that filling.
She also switched to Greek yogurt last year
to get more protein.
“Regular yogurt is really thin,” Pill said.
“It was low in calories, but it wasn’t fill-
ing.”
It’s not that people don’t care about calo-
ries anymore. Nutrition experts still say
weight loss comes down to burning more
calories than you eat.
But dieters are sick of foods that provide
only fleeting satisfaction and seem to make
them hungrier. The new thinking is that eat-
ing foods with more protein or fat will make
dieters less likely to binge later, even if
they’re higher in calories.
“People are recognizing that it’s not
enough to just go on a diet and lose weight.
Nutrition comes more into play,” said
Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy
at the Center for Science in the Public Inter-
est, a health advocacy group.
Many top brands are trying to keep up
with the trend:
— Special K cereal’s sales are down 7
percent in the past two years, according to
IRI, a market research firm based in Chica-
go. Kellogg last year rolled out “Special K
Nourish” hot cereals that tout a blend of
grains such as quinoa and barley. A Kellogg
executive noted at the time that people are
looking for nutritional benefits rather than
just reduced calories.
— Nestle’s Lean Cuisine saw a 27 percent
drop in sales in the past four years, accord-
ing to IRI. So the company introduced an
“Honestly Good” line that boasts of natural
ingredients and offers more generous serv-
ings at about 390 calories per box, rather
than the 300 calories for regular Lean Cui-
sine meals.
— Both Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi saw
sales volume fall by nearly 7 percent last
year, according to the industry tracker Bev-
erage Digest. That was steeper than declines
for their full-calorie counterparts.
Executives at Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo
Inc. blame customers’ move away from arti-
ficial sweeteners and say they’re working
on sodas using natural low-calorie sweeten-
ers. The drinks are likely to have more
calories than traditional diet sodas, but the
thinking is that people will accept the trade-
off to avoid artificial ingredients.
— Weight Watchers updated its famous
“Points” system in 2010 to consider the pro-
tein content of food; the new system is
called PointsPlus. It also introduced a “Sim-
ply Filling” option that lets people eat from
a list of “power foods” without counting
points.
“We know that while calories are calories,
how satisfied you are with eating those
calories makes a difference,” said Karen
Miller-Kovach, chief scientific officer at
Weight Watchers.
Perhaps most emblematic of calorie
counts as a marketing gimmick are the 100-
calorie snacks that flooded the market a
decade ago. Some food companies are
retreating from the strategy.
In the past four years, sales of 100-calorie
snack packs of Oreos have plummeted 72
percent, according to IRI. Parent company
Mondelez International Inc. also has pruned
varieties from its 100-calorie lineup and
now offers only four.
Mondelez spokesman Richard Buino said
the company is focusing on healthy snacks
that are about “more than an arbitrary calo-
rie amount.”
Frito-Lay also made its last shipment of
100-calorie pack Cheetos and Doritos this
past summer. The chip maker’s new “ready-
to-go” packs still have about 100 calories,
AP PHOTO/PAUL SAKUMA, FILE
dieters Start looking for Natural Alternatives
In this March 3, 2010 file photo, a
Costco customer pours a diet Coke
drink at Costco in Mountain View,
Calif.
but the trait is no longer advertised on the
bag’s front.
The sales declines for diet brands are a
reminder that what’s in vogue today may
also eventually be seen as marketing gim-
micks.
In fact, Miller-Kovach of Weight Watch-
ers points to a pitfall: The belief that a food
is wholesome is sometimes used to justify
eating too much, she said — in other words,
consuming too many calories.
“Just because something is simple doesn’t
mean it’s going to give you your desired
weight loss,” she said.
April 16, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7