At McDonald’s, the egg whites for the new breakfast sandwich called the Egg White Delight McMuffin have a loose shape rather than the round discs used in the original Egg McMuffin.
And Kraft Foods took more than two years to develop a process to make the thick, uneven slabs of turkey in its Carving Board line look like leftovers from a homemade meal rather than the cookie-cutter ovals typical of most lunchmeat.
“The goal is to get the same action as if you were cutting with a knife,” said Paul Morin, a Kraft engineer.
Food companies are responding to the adage that people eat with their eyes. Americans still love their fast food and packaged snacks, but they’re increasingly turning their noses up at foods that look overly processed. Home-cooked meals — or ones that at least look like they were home-made — are seen as more wholesome and authentic.
The result is that companies are tossing out the identical shapes and drab colors that scream of factory conveyor belts. There’s no way to measure exactly how much food makers are investing to make their products look more natural or fresh. But adaption is seen as necessary for fueling steady growth.