Satiety claims on food: consumers expect no magic bullet to weight loss

What would you think when you read a claim such as 'increases fullness''or 'keeps you going between meals' on your favourite box of cereals? Would you simply expect an enhanced feeling of fullness after breakfast or do you think that after repeated consumption it will help you lose weight?

Fictional package with satiety claim

In Europe, satiety claims on food packages are strictly regulated. Before a claim can be put on a package, evidence to substantiate the claim needs to be submitted to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The EFSA has two key criteria that have to be met before approval: (1) any claim should not go beyond the demonstrated evidence, and (2) the average consumer must be able to understand the effects expressed in the claim.

But does the 'average' consumer understand a satiety claim? Research on this question is limited. Satiety experts, however, fear overinterpretation of satiety claims, in the sense that consumers infer more health benefits from claims than promised. Some even worry for the 'magic bullet effect' in that consumers expect to lose weight, without any other personal efforts such as restricting calories or exercising.

Together with Ellen van Kleef, David Mela, Toine Hulshof and Hans van Trijp, I conducted a study in which 1504 consumers from Italy, UK, France and Germany were questioned about the meaning of satiety claims. Results of this study are published in the journal 'Appetite'. The paper is called 'Consumer understanding, interpretation and perceived levels of personal responsibility in relation to satiety-related claims'.

We discovered that most consumers very well understand satiety claims and stay close to their literal meaning. There was one exception. Consumers who tend to chronically restrict their eating to avoid becoming fat (the so-called restrained eaters), expected more benefits than actually stated in the claim. 



For various claims, we asked consumers whether they expected that the product will do the work for them or they themselves have to put in some personal efforts as well. The answer depended on the type of claim. 'Feeling full for a longer time' is something that consumers expect a product to deliver. In contrast, consumers realize that losing weight is something that a product cannot do for them. Most consumers know that personal sacrifices are required, with or without a little help of a satiety enhancing food. 


This is a guest post, written by Els Bilman (PhD student).

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Els M. Bilman, Ellen van Kleef, David J. Mela, Toine Hulshof, & Hans C.M. van Trijp (2012). Consumer understanding, interpretation and perceived levels of personal responsibility in relation to satiety-related claims Appetite DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2012.07.010

Just a bite or the full portion size? Dramatically smaller snack portion sizes satisfy hunger and cravings

A key reason we are getting overweight is because we eat too large portion sizes of food. But is this overeating giving us more satisfaction? Could eating smaller portions be similarly effective in decreasing food cravings or feelings of hunger as larger portions? That was the key question in the study that I conducted with Mitsuru Shimizu and Brian Wansink while visiting the Food and Brand lab. The paper is now published in Food Quality and Preference (see also full-text paper).



We presented 104 participants with either a small portion of three commonly craved snacks - chocolate, potato chips and apple pie - or substantial larger portions of the same snacks. For example, the small portion of chocolate was 10 grams, while the large portion was 100 grams. Feelings of hunger and craving were assessed just before participants started with the taste test, immediately after the taste test and about 15 minutes later. Secretly, we also measured how much participants ate.

Results show that although providing larger food portions increased snack calorie intake by 77% (103 calories), after 15 minutes, they do not reduce hunger or cravings any more than smaller portions. In other words, after 15 minutes, when all food was out of sight, everyone was equally happy.

A typical snack in the US contains about 264 calories (see Piernas and Popkin, 2010). This amount closely resembles the total calories consumed in the large portion size condition in our study (about 237 calories). Nevertheless, although participants in the small portion size condition ate considerably less (about 134 calories, which is about 51% of what people typically snack), they were equally tempted by the snacks. This shows that whereas large portions tend to increase food intake, smaller portions may make you equally satisfied. 

Going for the large portion size of their favourite food

How to stop eating when you are craving a food? One way is to make sure that there is less food in front of you in the first place. That is not simple. Large food portions are common in supermarkets, restaurants and even at home. Portion sizes of many foods have increased during the last decades and we are getting used to it. For example, snack foods and beverages are offered in increasingly large packages. Although many consumers find 'value for money' important, it would be better to stop the emphasis of getting more food for you money. Smaller portion sizes can help you limit the amount of food you eat.

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Satiety enhancing food development: State of the art in the field of nutrition, food technology, consumer, marketing and technology

Developing foods that keep you feel full for longer is not a matter of simply adding extra fibers, water or air to a food. For many people, the signs of fullness that their body is giving them after eating are easily overridden by the temptations in our environment that trigger to continue eating. Think of the high visibility of delicious foods and large, convenient portion sizes. They all have substantial influence on the amount of food we eat and the resulting satisfaction.

Satiety is a complex interaction of physiological, social and psychological mechanisms.

Food providing enhanced satiety will have to function in the life of people surrounded by cues that stimulate excessive eating. This requires an integrated approach between various food-related disciplines.

This month, our new paper has been published: 'Successful development of satiety enhancing food products: Towards a multidisciplinary agenda of research challenges'. The paper presents the state of the art and key research challenges around satiety enhancings foods in the field of nutrition, food technology, consumer, marketing and communication.

My co-authors are Hans van Trijp, Joost van den borne and Charon Zondervan. Just click on the Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition-paper below to read it full-text.