The Food Industry Makes Smaller Portions For Our Health

Oreo Junior. Mac Jr. Mini-Frappachinos. These are all on the market in order to helps us curb our sweet tooth and keep us healthy.

Meh. That's not entirely true.

According to an article in the newest Adweek, the food and beverage industry recognizes its consumers are more careful of what they're eating—and what they're buying. They want to help us get healthy, but in reality, they're making sure we still buy their products in slightly smaller packaging.

Some food corporations are taking all the guess work out of their products and embracing transparency. Mars Food has adding labels on its brands' packaging and on its websites that recommend how often "occasional" meal offerings (those with higher levels of sugar, salt or fat) should be consumed within a balanced diet.

Like all phrases that once defined a generation, food labels like "low fat" or "low calories" have gone the way of "Gag me with a spoon" and "All that and a bag of chips." So the food and beverage industries have come up with a new catchphrase to grab your attention: "snack size" and "signature offerings."

One food industry insider calls this a form of brand loyalty: "Going to a strategy where they're saying 'don't have quite as much' doesn't necessarily bring in all the dollars, but it could possibly bring in a better image," Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst at NPD Group. "It results in higher loyalty because people could feel that the companies have their interest at heart."

Should food and drink companies police our food intake? After all, it's not their food that is the problem, it's how we eat that causes general health problems.