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"Years ago, cartoonist Nicole Hollander wrote that chili cheese fries didn&amp;#039;t count if they were eaten in a restaurant with bad lighting. Apparently, those words of wisdom are reverberating with Americans even more today. Mintel, the consumer trends analysis firm with offices in London and Chicago, has spotted a notable increase in the amount of restaurant snacking by Americans.   &amp;quot;Menu items that contain the descriptors &amp;#039;snack,&amp;#039; &amp;#039;snackable,&amp;#039; or &amp;#039;snacker&amp;#039; have increased by a staggering 170% since 2007,&amp;quot; Mintel declared earlier this month, &amp;quot;and growth is expected to carry on as restaurants continue to explore this new trend.&amp;quot; Restaurant owners, of course, are thrilled with this development. Notable numbers that make up this trend include: \u2022 64 percent of snackers buy a beverage when indulging \u2022 61 percent look for portable snacks \u2022 52 percent of the snacking public want something indulgent when they, well, indulge \u2022 50 percent crave something salty and \u2022 Only 32 percent of snackers go for something healthy which, according to Mintel, &amp;quot;counteracts the health conscious trend that is being seen in the restaurant industry.&amp;quot; An interesting counterbalance is that food manufactures \u2013 companies like Kellogg and other big food corporations \u2013 have vowed to reduce the total calories of their products by 1.5 trillion calories by 2015. See, that&amp;#039;s where the bad lighting rule comes in. Eat healthy at home and indulge when you go out. Fewer calories at home and no calories at your favorite burger joint. That is how it works, right? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a38168/snacking-away-from-home/?src=shelter_footer>