Candy marketers want to make it easy for consumers to count calories. Amid growing concerns over obesity, confectioners have begun a widespread trend of creating so-called "calorie controlled"
products that are clearly labeled with the number of calories contained in the product. Some of the new items were unveiled this week in Chicago at the National Confectioners Association convention.
The list includes Hershey Co., and Nestle USA, each of which unveiled candy sticks, calorie-controlled versions of some of their most popular candies. Later this year, Hershey will introduce a
100-calorie candy bar. Also, Lite Foods Corp. is showing an 80-calorie Sunkist Fruit Gummies package, and Whitman's, a division of the Russell Stover Candy Co., finished the rollout of its Weight
Watchers line of candy, with all items containing fewer than 50 calories. "These are for consumers looking to control their portion size," said Tricia Bowles, a spokeswoman for Nestle. The trend was
kicked off earlier this year by food marketers such as Kraft Foods, which introduced a 100-calorie cookie pack. That was followed by Frito-Lay, Procter & Gamble Co. and Coca-Cola Co., which began
selling 100-calorie servings of Fritos, Pringles, Coke and other popular snacks.
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