Dieters are veering away from low-calorie products because they find them 'dissatisfying', a new report claims.
The Associated Press talked to industry experts who confirmed that brands including Diet Coke, Lean Cuisine and Special K are witnessing a sharp decline in sales as a result.
The new thinking is that eating foods with more protein or fat will decrease the likelihood of binging later, even if they're higher in calories.
Indeed, Kelly Pill, 54, from Covina, California, says that she adopted this approach recently and has been satisfied with the results.
'Regular yogurt . . was low in calories, but it wasn't filling,' she said, noting that she now only buys Greek yogurt.
The market research firm, IRI revealed that Special K cereal sales have dropped seven per cent in the past two years, and Nestle's Lean Cuisine 27per cent in the past four.
Meanwhile the industry tracker Beverage Digest reported that Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi saw sales volume fall by nearly seven per cent 2013
That was steeper than declines for their full-calorie counterparts.
Longtime dieter: Kelly Pill, 54, from California said low-calorie left her feeling hungry +2
Longtime dieter: Kelly Pill, 54, from California said low-calorie left her feeling hungry
Another sign of the shift is how food companies are retreating from the '100-calorie snack' marketing strategy that flooded the market a decade ago.
Mondelez International Inc, which owns Oreo, Chips Ahoy! and Philadelphia cheese spread, 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 focus on 'more than an arbitrary calorie 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, 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 gimmicks.
In fact, Miller-Kovach of Weight Watchers 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.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2601899/Full-fat-How-dieters-ditching-low-calorie-products-filling-versions.html#ixzz2yZ3ChNv6
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