Starbucks Rolls Out Sub-500-Calorie Meals

USA Today: Consumers are counting calories like crazy. So, too, are some of America's savviest food and drink marketers.

Which may explain why, today, Starbucks rolls out Bistro Boxes: small meals under 500 calories, such as Chipotle Chicken Wraps and Sesame Noodles, that cost less than $7. The move comes four months after the chain's rollout of its Petites line of bite-size desserts.

Low calories are in high demand. Kraft recently rolled out SnackWell's treats in 100- to 150-calorie servings. And Coke's 7.5-ounce, 90-calorie minicans are a hit.

In the midst of an obesity epidemic, fewer calories would seem to be a good thing. But one nutritionist wonders if consumers haven't lost the ability to judge how much to eat — so they're letting foodmakers do it for them. "Americans don't want to think about it," says Carolyn Costin, a food psychologist. "We'd like to be able to stop in a place and have our food made, packaged and certified for us as just enough."

But the very notion of food marketers trying to make food healthier — and lower in calories — is huge, says Jo Ann Hattner, nutrition instructor at Stabford University, who is enamored of the Starbucks Bistro Boxes. "If you're on the run, it's so much better than grabbing a giant slice of pizza."

Some small-is-beautiful eats and drinks:

•Meals. Some 5,400 domestic Starbucks locations will roll out four Bistro Boxes offerings. A Sesame Noodles box is 350 calories, including a cucumber carrot salad. A Chicken Lettuce Wrap is 360 calories, including peanut sauce.

The target: the 45% of Americans who are "wellness seekers — constantly looking for healthy options," says Annie Young-Scrivner, global chief marketing officer.

•Desserts. Since rolling out in March, sales of the Starbucks Petites line of eight tiny desserts at $1.50 each have "exceeded expectations," spokeswoman Lisa Passe says. Top seller: Birthday Cake Pop, a couple of bites of rounded, icing-covered cake on a stick.

•Snacks. With portion-controlled sizes launched in May, Kraft reinvented the SnackWell's line with sweet popcorn and brownie bites.

•Drinks. Since rolling out Coke's minicans last year, the company has added similar versions of Sprite, Fanta Orange and Cherry Coke.