No no, not the street kind.
We’re talking about signals that tell you when to stop snacking!
Act like you’ve never said, “Oh, I’ll just have a few chips,” and then BAM the whole bag is gone! Well, some researchers are testing an idea about including edible stop signs.
For example, in a stack of stackable chips, there would be one colored red after the serving size recommendation. This alerts you to stop and gives you a visual reference!
Researchers conducted two studies of 98 students: in both, students were given tubes of Lays Stackables potato chips to eat while watching video clips in class.
In the first study, the one group was given ones with red chips inserted every 7 or 14 crisps, and the other group got normal stacks.
Same in the second study, the insert was 5 or 10 crisps, and a normal stack.
Nobody was told what the red chips were for.
In BOTH studies, the ones with the red chips ATE LESS! About 50% less!
Apparently it made them eat about 250 calories less. And that’s a lot of calories!
Do U think food manufacturers would go for this, though? It would cost extra to get those red ones in there, and then people wouldn’t burn through their products so quickly…
We wonder how this can be applied!
[Image via ROBYN WISHNA.]
Related Posts
