Portion size reduction could be more effective in helping to reduce Britain's obesity epidemic than reformulating products to reduce levels of fat, sugar and salt.
That was the verdict of the head of human nutrition research at the Medical Research Council, Dr Susan Jebb, speaking at the Federation of Bakers' annual conference last month.
"For some product categories the emphasis should be on portion size rather than reformulation," said Jebb, who accepted that some products tasted better with more of these ingredients. "We cannot hope to reformulate every single product in every single person's diet."
She referred to studies which showed that smaller portions reduced calories, salt, fat and sugar at each sitting. They also prompted people to eat less throughout the day rather than compensating with more food later. "Experimental evidence is absolutely convincing; larger portions encourage over-consumption," she said.