Private labels and portion control

Found an interesting article ("Go Lite!" by Kristin R. Ball) on so-called private labels (what I have been calling house brands) and portion control. The article begins with a reminder that we are all getting fatter.

One of the keys to eating healthier, of course, is portion control. Whether it’s an oversized steak in a restaurant or a family size bag of chips from the grocery store, the key is, not to eat the whole thing.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “the larger the package, the more people consume from it.” So what was the market’s solution to this problem? Portion control in the form of 100-calorie snack packs.

And then the article just sort of wanders around, making the point that some private labels are offering single-portion foods and beverage mixes, some of it markets healthier eating elements on the front of the package, and finally ends up saying:

So whether consumers are watching their calories or their cholesterol, private label has something to offer those looking for affordable ways to eat better.

"Affordable" as in house brands are cheaper than name brands, but not as in single-portion packaging doesn't cost a bundle (it does). Those little packages are handy when you are trying to force yourself to limit how much you eat, assuming, of course, that you have enough will power to consume only one package at a time. They do, however, use more packaging than larger bags/boxes/containers (i.e., not so green), and, just as important for portion control, the nutritional basis for the single portion may be derived from a unit that is less critical to one's own dietary needs (how many carbs/sodium/cholesterol in that 100 calories?).

I'm getting closer to thinking about ways to repackage using reusable containers. It's a nuisance to count out 14 nuts for a snack, but less so if it's part of dividing up the whole can at once into several days worth of snacks. The problem is, of course, the container. I have a lot of snack size "zipper" bags for my jewelry making, but I hesitate to resort to them for these for snacks. I can take the jewelry out of the bag and put another item in it without having to worry about cleaning up the bag, i.e., I can reuse it. For food use, reuse is a problem. This will take more thinking.