A trial was conducted by the University of Surrey, testing the amount of food and calories consumed by 2 test groups who ate the same pasta meal product. One test group ate it as a sit down meal, and the other group ate it as a snack on the go, out of the container. 

The results found that those who consumed the meal as a snack are more likely to over eat as they may not realise or even remember what they have eaten.​ To overcome this food should be marketed as a meal and eaten as a meal, helping the consumers to be more aware of what is consumed, to help prevent overeating later on.

You can read the full article HERE

Food Labelling Services comments:

Obesity is an increasing concern in the UK, with the latest figures showing that a quarter of the English population are obese. There are many causese for this - excess energy intake and limited exercise. Potion sizes have been slowly increasing over the last 20 years - evidence collated by the British Heart Foundation in 2013 showing that curry ready meals had expanded by 50%, an individual shepherd’s pie ready meal grew by 98%, chicken pies were 40% bigger and a meat lasagne ready meal for one had increased by 39%. If these products are being consumed as 'snacks' on the go, which leads to an increased propensity to eat other foods, not only will more calories be eaten through an increased propensity to eat more, but also due to the increased portion sizes.