Bright-coloured chips can cut consumption by half

London, May 24 (ANI): Adding a few bright-coloured chips to a stack of snacks can cut the amount people eat by up to 50 percent, say researchers.

Also dividing up the chips into 'portions' reminds people of how many they're eating - and they slow right down.

"The colored chip did all the work," said Paul Rozin, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in an interview with ABC News.

"People tend to eat what you put in front of them. If you put less in front of them and give them a signal, they will take it," he stated.

Researchers aren't sure why the effect works - and it could simply be that a coloured chip makes eaters pause.

The startling finding resulted from two studies of American undergraduates who ate from tubes of potato chips while watching a movie, according to the Daily Mail.

In each study, participants ate chips that were either identical or which had coloured chips inserted at regular intervals.

Having the coloured chips inserted had a dramatic effect - no matter how they were spaced through the normal chips. Chip consumption was reduced by more than 50 percent. (ANI)