I don't understand 100 calorie snack foods

by Bob Sassone (Subscribe to Bob Sassone's posts)
Posted Jan 23rd 2006 2:49PM
Filed under: Snacks, Pop Food, Trends, Stores & Shopping

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OK, I get the concept: you get to have your favorite snacks (Chips Ahoy cookies, Cheese Nips, etc) and only eat 100 calories worth, so you can fit it into your diet. OK, so far, so good. But the packaging is what I don't get.

Each box comes with 6 bags of snacks, each one 100 calories. So what's to stop a person from eating 2 or 3 or 4 bags at one sitting, or in one day? I mean, if you're getting a bunch of Chips Anoy chocolate chip cookies, why not just buy a huge bag, the regular bag, and just eat 100 calories worth? (I haven't checked the math, but I bet that the regular bag of Chips Ahoy is cheaper than these snack packs). If you have the will power, great, but how do these help you with that will power?

This reminds me of people who set their watches/clocks ahead 10 minutes so they won't be late. What? You don't remember that the watch is 10 minutes ahead? I mean, what's up with that?

Tags: 100 calorie snack packs, cheese nips, chips ahoy, dieting, fat, food, oreos, snacks, trans fats

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-20-2008 @ 1:08AM

sharon69 said...

I eat these all the time and can't stop at one bag either. I like the because the sort of melt in my mouth.

11-15-2006 @ 3:14AM

Alex said...

"Some people need structure when they are dieting and watching their weight and convenience is key" - absolutely.

5-01-2007 @ 11:39AM

Jackie said...

You always pay more for individually wrapped ANYTHINGS! Everyone knows that. You also pay for the convenience of having already pre-proportioned. If that’s the case, why don’t we all by 75 lbs of meat and spend the extra time and energy putting them in individual freezer bags? We would end saving, right? Simple fact is that people don't know how to proportion, that's why you pay a little extra to have someone do it for you. Yes, cookies are yummy...but that why America is in the state of obesity that we are in now :-( Just my thoughts…

1-23-2006 @ 3:34PM

Punisher2k said...

You give the box to the Cookie Nazi who rations you one bag a day. Try to get more and NO COOKIES FOR YOU, 2 WEEKS

1-23-2006 @ 3:52PM

barrett said...

Or you only take one bag with you in your sack lunch that you're reduced to because you spent too much on that great set of knives and that cutting board at the post-Christmas sale.

That's my guess.

1-23-2006 @ 3:55PM

Meri said...

I so agree with you on this issue and also the watch thing. It�s RIDICULOUS! :-D I just found slashfood a minute ago and already feel like I�m gonna like this. You are bookmarked!

Best wishes from ice cold Finland,

Meri

1-23-2006 @ 4:01PM

Myron said...

The difference between a smaller and bigger bag would be the portion. Give people a bigger bag and they eat more. This has been shown with super sizing, the switch from 12 oz cans to 20 oz bottles, larger candy bars and so on. People eat whats put in front of them.

Still, I haven't checked the prices but I'm guessing you are paying more per calorie (gram, what have you) when you go for the special packaging. Marketer's wet dream: get the consumer to buy the same product, however they get less and pay more.

1-23-2006 @ 4:16PM

Brian said...

Another thing to consider is these are not the "normal" recipe. They are a low-cal version of the product. So you get more product (by volume) than you would if you had the normal version.

For example (and this is totally made up) - maybe 1/4 of a regular Chips Ahoy (let's say 1 oz) is 100 calories, but with these "100-calorie" versiuons, you can eat...4 oz of them to equal 100 calories.

Brian
http://candyaddict.com

1-23-2006 @ 5:21PM

Veronica said...

Some people need structure when they are dieting and watching their weight and convenience is key.

I don't think that are any worse than anything else out there.

Veronica

1-23-2006 @ 6:22PM

david said...

and about the watch thing... I like to set my alarm clock ahead by a completely arbitrary number of minutes (sometimes I set it back!). That way, when I wake up, I don't know if I can really afford the last few minutes of sleep I think I need... And when I'm tired, I don't remember anything, esp. not how many minutes off my clock is.

1-23-2006 @ 6:26PM

Jen said...

According to the Nabisco website, a 4.86 oz Snack Pack box of Oreo 'thin crisps' contains 6 100-calorie servings (1 snack bag). An 18 oz bag of regular Oreos contains 15 160-calorie servings (3 cookies). At my local supermarket, the snack pack boxes are only about 40-50 cents cheaper than the corresponding larger packages.

Certainly on a per-serving basis, the non-snack-pack versions are far less expensive. I guess that wouldn't be so bad, except that (as has been pointed out), the snack packs are actually a different "thin crisp" product--lower cal, lower fat. The thin crisps aren't available in larger bags, so the snack packs are currently the ONLY way the consumer can buy them. If someone wants the "thin crisps", they have no choice but to pay a premium for all the extra packaging involved in the snack pack boxes.

1-23-2006 @ 10:39PM

Ken Sloan said...

I really think that setting your watch ahead makes a huge subconscious difference. I'm never late for anything (and not because of that) but if my alarm clock or otherwise is set ahead of the time it's supposed to be, even if I'm conscious of the fact that it's faster, I'm still subconsciously feeling like I'm going to be late, even though I always end up early.

It's stupid, but that's psychology for you.

I'll keep eating cookies until I'm satisfied whether or not they're in 100 calorie portions or in a pile on the kitchen floor. Cookies are yummy.

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