COLUMBIA, S.C. — Eateries are fighting shrinking wallets by shrinking their burgers, burritos and doughnuts.

Mini foods are a way for consumers to still get a taste of those foods "without feeling too economically guilty," said Richard George, professor of food marketing at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

Or too nutritionally guilty.

The undercurrent, he said, is the national obesity problem.

"A mini Krispy Kreme is not going to kill anybody," George said.

Restaurants in general are known for portion sizes that are larger than most people need, said Rick Shea, president of Shea Marketing in Minneapolis.

The smaller items give consumers better control of how much they eat and how much they spend, he said.

"It provides them a nice alternative. This is clearly an area that consumers are showing an interest in and voting with their pocketbooks."

And it's the restaurant industry's way of keeping you hooked in the hopes you'll go back to the full-sized versions when your wallet beefs up again.

"They're all trying to keep contact with their customers so when things get better they say, 'Oh yeah,' " George said.

Restaurants are feeling the heat as the brown-bag lunch becomes the newest accessory at many offices.

"People have either stopped going out to eat or they're trading down," George said.

Now that fast-food restaurants are trying to lure bargain hunters beyond their value menus, you know the recession has taken root, he said.

"Up until recently they were doing fairly well," he said. "It's gotten to them."

But mini products won't necessarily take a smaller bite out of your wallet. Some of the pared-down menu offerings are better deals than others: