Bigger Diet Meals Mean More Food, More Calories, Too

Do you think the same Americans who invented the Big Gulp, the 22-ounce T-bone and the Double Stuffed Oreo would be content for long with puny diet fare?

No way, as evidenced by the beefier diet entrees showing up in supermarkets, including larger low-cal offerings by Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice.

Hearty Portions Lean Cuisines average 14 ounces in weight, compared to the regular 9- to 10-ounce entrees. They come with a few extra calories, too.

While regular Lean Cuisine entrees range from 180 to 300 calories, Hearty Portions run from 310 to 450. Healthy Choice has a hefty version called “generous serving meals.”

“There are more and more products coming out in larger portions,” says John LaRosa, editor of the Diet Business Bulletin in Valley Stream, N.Y. “Baby boomers seem to want to have their cake and eat it, too - they want diet foods, but they want portions that are sufficient to fill them up.”

National promotions for the new Lean Cuisines will target men, says Nestle Frozen Food Co. public affairs director Roz O’Hearn.

“Men have told us they wish there was a bit more food.”