Diet foods to satisfy your inner glutton

When's the last time you were guiltily scraping your way to the bottom of an ice cream carton and noticed this message: "150 calories per pint"?

Yes, per pint.

Foods aimed at helping you slim down have been around for decades, but a recent wave of ultralow-calorie products -- such as the 150-calorie per pint dessert Arctic Zero -- is making a direct appeal to our national sense of gluttony.

"What we're seeing here is a strategy that says Americans like to stuff their faces," food industry analyst Phil Lempert said. "And these mean we don't have to sacrifice."

With two-thirds of American adults overweight or obese, health officials have long warned that ballooning portion sizes are a major factor. Now food manufacturers are testing whether the desire for big servings can make peace with our need to shed pounds -- or at least make big profits.

"It's fine to eat one serving of ice cream, but I can't remember the last time I sat down with a pint and ate half a cup," says Amit Pandhi, CEO of Arctic Zero Inc., whose pints of "ice cream replacement" prominently feature the 150-calorie message.

"We feel like a serving is an entire pint. And if you're looking at it from that point of view, our product is the only one where you can eat a whole pint and not feel like you're doing something terrible," Pandhi said.

Similarly, commercials for MGD 64, a 64-calorie beer from Chicago-based MillerCoors being heavily marketed this year, pits a tiny martini or petite glass of wine against a cool, full bottle of brew. Meanwhile, the website for its competitor, Anheuser-Busch's Bud Select 55, promises no pain and no gain, boasting that you can burn off the product's 55 calories with -- ready? -- a 54-minute nap.

And though Tofu Shirataki noodles from California-based House Foods America Corporation, offer two 20-calorie servings per 8-ounce package, it's understood that you'll eat the whole bag.

"Most people eat the whole bag for a meal," said Yoko Difrancia, the company's marketing supervisor. "The whole bag is more realistic."

Which means that if you were feeling a need to binge, you could pound down a pile of noodles, a couple brews and a pint of "ice cream" all for 300 calories -- the same as one McDonald's cheeseburger.

Health advocates and dietitians remain committed to the idea that portion sizes must come down. But they say these products could offer baby steps to people struggling to control their weight. And they might also be useful when you feel that binge coming on.

"We have some die-hard fans who've told us they've eaten five or six pints in a day," Pandhi said. "We believe everything should be eaten in moderation. But if you're going to choose five or six pints of ice cream, it's definitely healthier to choose our product than a full-fat premium ice cream."