FDA to Change Serving Sizes
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Yeah I don't see how it would make people eat more. They already eat what they want, probably without looking at the label. If anything, if they do look at the label, they'll realize the food has more calories than they thought.0
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They need to change the label to the way they do it in Europe and Australia.
It gives the servings size, but then also give the 100g or 100ml information. that way you can truly compare products since each company will have different serving sizes.
http://www.awash.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/understanding-food-label.gif0 -
They need to change the label to the way they do it in Europe and Australia.
It gives the servings size, but then also give the 100g or 100ml information. that way you can truly compare products since each company will have different serving sizes.
http://www.awash.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/understanding-food-label.gif
Yep, agreed, it would be much easier.0 -
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It was eye opening for me to look at the Canadian food recommendations, like half the food portions or less! Check it out.
5.5 Oz of meat a day is the recommendation. Sorry I can't paste link w/ my phone.
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softblondechick wrote: »It was eye opening for me to look at the Canadian food recommendations, like half the food portions or less! Check it out.
5.5 Oz of meat a day is the recommendation. Sorry I can't paste link w/ my phone.
That's... scary.0 -
simple solution …weight all your solids and as many liquids as you can ...0
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Thanks for the comments. Good points on items that are packaged as single servings - I do think that people assume they should eat the whole thing so calories should reflect that. But I did assume that a serving size was a recommended amount. My bet is that this change will increase consumption if you aren't tracking calories.
You do realize that most people don't read labels in the first place right?
As for myself, I don't let a package dictate a serving or a portion for me...for me, that information just helps me with the math...my serving or portion is my serving or portion and it is commensurate with my calorie targets.
I don't know anyone other than myself and my super anal fitness buddies who actually read labels and measure and weigh stuff out...most people just don't.0 -
They need to change the label to the way they do it in Europe and Australia.
It gives the servings size, but then also give the 100g or 100ml information. that way you can truly compare products since each company will have different serving sizes.
http://www.awash.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/understanding-food-label.gif
They list fiber separately, too, which I wish they would do here.0 -
SilverRose89 wrote: »It's a good idea. My annoyance is cereal. 30g just is not what most people will pour into a bowl when they want some cereal. I know that was the one I was shocked at when I realised how small a 'serving' is.
This won't make people eat more, IMO. The people who already choose to eat 30g of cereal will continue, but it might actually mean calories per serving accurately reflect what people see a serving as, which can only be a good thing.
Now that I weigh and log foods, I sometimes use cereal as a breakfast "side" to go along with my eggs and meat. Sometimes it's a snack later in the day. It's never a meal anymore.
I do use a cereal that is 59g (approx. 1 1/4 c.) a serving but it is 200 calories before milk lol. Shredded wheat n bran...add 50g of blueberries and yum. I like how they put a more (still small) realistic serving size and the calories to go with it. I don't feel quite as sad when I eat it LOL.
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I also like that they're adding in potassium on the label... not because I'm concerned about not getting enough, but because I'm a bit neurotic and I don't like it being wrong in MFP.0
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i wish they make pre-packaged food 1 serving per package, for example some dorito bags have 3 servings in one small bags. it'll be easier to see how much calories are in a bag, not dividing them into multiple servings because let's face it. one does not simply stop eating a bag of chips less than half way.
same with Pop Tarts. they are packaged 2 pastries per wrapper. that's 400 calories in one sitting instead of the 200 calories for 1 marked in the box.0 -
i wish they make pre-packaged food 1 serving per package, for example some dorito bags have 3 servings in one small bags. it'll be easier to see how much calories are in a bag, not dividing them into multiple servings because let's face it. one does not simply stop eating a bag of chips less than half way.
same with Pop Tarts. they are packaged 2 pastries per wrapper. that's 400 calories in one sitting instead of the 200 calories for 1 marked in the box.
That's actually one of the things they're changing.
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As an example, a serving of ice cream was 1/2 cup but it will now be 1 cup as listed on the food label.
I thought the whole pint was one serving?
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barbecuesauce wrote: »If you read labels, it's not going to affect the way you eat (unless you're just really terrible at math and can't figure .5 servings), and if you don't, you're already eating muffins and ice cream in those quantities.
Unless someone is preparing their own food regularly, there is a very good chance they have no idea how much (little!) "half a cup" really is. IMO serving sizes on labels should reflect a typical eating pattern - the ramen example is perfect.
And a tub of Ben & Jerrys...in the real world, most of the time, that is at most two servings.
Yeah, I don't disagree. I probably should have rephrased "if you read labels" to reflect that I'm talking about people who are already portion- and calorie-conscious.
And a big + to the cereal discussion. Although when I bought some Great Grains recently, the serving size was 55g, so maybe manufacturers have already started doing it on their own.0 -
I like the changes. I'm sure some of us have been burned looking at calories then realizing too late that it was only for 1/2 the package or something.
The database is going to be a huge mess though, I'm dreading it.
the database is already a huge mess, I don't think we'll notice. god knows they won't fix it. lol.0 -
softblondechick wrote: »It was eye opening for me to look at the Canadian food recommendations, like half the food portions or less! Check it out.
5.5 Oz of meat a day is the recommendation. Sorry I can't paste link w/ my phone.
wut? Not per meal, per day? wth. I'm flipping a table!0 -
SilverRose89 wrote: »It's a good idea. My annoyance is cereal. 30g just is not what most people will pour into a bowl when they want some cereal. I know that was the one I was shocked at when I realised how small a 'serving' is.
This won't make people eat more, IMO. The people who already choose to eat 30g of cereal will continue, but it might actually mean calories per serving accurately reflect what people see a serving as, which can only be a good thing.
I forgot about cereal. I just had a bowl late last night, actually. I hadn't gone grocery shopping and I was well under my calories for the day, but low on food, and I thought, what's calorie-dense in here? Granola. I had a small bowl of granola, which was over twice the listed serving. The listed serving is barely a handful, and I have tiny hands.
Granola is one of those calorie-dense foods that people think is low in calories because it's healthy. If I free poured a bowl of granola with a healthy appetite, I could easily consume 4 servings at 840 calories. For a regular sized bowl of granola. Without milk.0 -
softblondechick wrote: »It was eye opening for me to look at the Canadian food recommendations, like half the food portions or less! Check it out.
5.5 Oz of meat a day is the recommendation. Sorry I can't paste link w/ my phone.
wut? Not per meal, per day? wth. I'm flipping a table!
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/MyPyramid_Food_Intake_Patterns.pdf0 -
I just checked out the Canadian food rainbow. It used to be a pyramid when I was a kid, and now it's a confusing and convoluted rainbow, but nevertheless. According to the rainbow, adult women should have 5 oz of meat or meat alternatives daily, and adult men should have 7.5. A "serving" is 2.5 oz. That's crazy. I don't eat enough meat as it is, and because of that I'm always struggling to meet my protein intake. Our rainbow is broken!0
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I just checked out the Canadian food rainbow. It used to be a pyramid when I was a kid, and now it's a confusing and convoluted rainbow, but nevertheless. According to the rainbow, adult women should have 5 oz of meat or meat alternatives daily, and adult men should have 7.5. A "serving" is 2.5 oz. That's crazy. I don't eat enough meat as it is, and because of that I'm always struggling to meet my protein intake. Our rainbow is broken!
I dont eat meat, but I eat more than 5.5 per day oz of other "meat group" stuff, like cottage cheese, nuts, tofu, protien shakes, boca burgers, beans, eggs...
I wonder what a 5 oz a day allotment looks like.
jeez according to that chart i am eat WAY TOO MUCH fruit and veggies too.
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I don't really have anything to add. I think updating serving sizes is a good thing, because as they are now, they're ridiculous. For example, one serving of Oreos is three cookies, and one package has forty five cookies (Google tells me), so if you eat one serving a day, it takes 15 days to finish a package. The cookies will probably be stale by then. Which is why I link to you the video below. If you've never been fortunate enough to watch Brian Regan's stand-up, I think you'll be in for a treat (and it's totally on topic):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS0nhz1RHEw
As for the new serving sizes possibly leading to people overeating, come on. We have to take some responsibility for ourselves.0 -
AmazonMayan wrote: »It sounds like it would be more realistic as far as people who don't look at the size of a serving size very closely. If the serving size is increased, the calories will also increase on the label.
I weigh by grams anyway. I had an english muffin this morning that was over in grams according to the package serving size, so I adjusted the calories accordingly.....
I also weigh in grams -- or ounces if grams are not available for reference (like with milk). I have noticed that a so called 1/2 cup or cup serving size does not match the gram serving size.
Nit picking here...
I believe the oz shown on the milk container is for fluid ounces, a measure of volume, not weight. To measure out 8 fluid ounces of milk, you would use a cup measure, not a scale.
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I think it's a good thing. They should be more accurate in terms of what a reasonable serving is. Labels are often misleading, in my opinion.
For example, you can buy a muffin that is packaged in such a way that is meant to be eaten all at once, and yet the label says one serving is 1/3 of the muffin. This is just an example. I personally think that is not right. If you are going to package something into a single serving then the label should match. Another one that annoys me is individual bags of chips. At jimmy johns, the label says a serving size is half the bag.
Yes. I suspect if those "this is actually three servings of cake" things you get at delis and the like were labelled as the single-serving packaging treats them as, we'd get a lot fewer people eating them. Once I started actually looking at serving labels and viewing how many "servings" are in a single item, I definitely started re-evaluating buying certain bagged items. (Chips, I'm looking at you. An ounce of chips is fine as a snack/etc, but those 4 oz bags you get at convenience stores kill me.)0 -
lthames0810 wrote: »AmazonMayan wrote: »It sounds like it would be more realistic as far as people who don't look at the size of a serving size very closely. If the serving size is increased, the calories will also increase on the label.
I weigh by grams anyway. I had an english muffin this morning that was over in grams according to the package serving size, so I adjusted the calories accordingly.....
I also weigh in grams -- or ounces if grams are not available for reference (like with milk). I have noticed that a so called 1/2 cup or cup serving size does not match the gram serving size.
Nit picking here...
I believe the oz shown on the milk container is for fluid ounces, a measure of volume, not weight. To measure out 8 fluid ounces of milk, you would use a cup measure, not a scale.
Im pretty sure, at least what I remember from hs chemistry (when I wasn't sleeping lol) liquids measured by volume, and solids measured by weight is indeed the correct way to do it.
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lthames0810 wrote: »AmazonMayan wrote: »It sounds like it would be more realistic as far as people who don't look at the size of a serving size very closely. If the serving size is increased, the calories will also increase on the label.
I weigh by grams anyway. I had an english muffin this morning that was over in grams according to the package serving size, so I adjusted the calories accordingly.....
I also weigh in grams -- or ounces if grams are not available for reference (like with milk). I have noticed that a so called 1/2 cup or cup serving size does not match the gram serving size.
Nit picking here...
I believe the oz shown on the milk container is for fluid ounces, a measure of volume, not weight. To measure out 8 fluid ounces of milk, you would use a cup measure, not a scale.
Im pretty sure, at least what I remember from hs chemistry (when I wasn't sleeping lol) liquids measured by volume, and solids measured by weight is indeed the correct way to do it.
yup.0 -
LITtlerMeCO wrote: »softblondechick wrote: »It was eye opening for me to look at the Canadian food recommendations, like half the food portions or less! Check it out.
5.5 Oz of meat a day is the recommendation. Sorry I can't paste link w/ my phone.
wut? Not per meal, per day? wth. I'm flipping a table!
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/MyPyramid_Food_Intake_Patterns.pdf
My diet is so vastly different to that ... I can't even. The recommendations are so low on protein and vegetables.
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apparently in the meat and beans group, one ounce of meat can be considered equivalent to one ounce of meat.
Someone got paid to write that. Paid a LOT to write that...0 -
I do like that though, a sedentary 2-3 year old needs 1000 calories, a 4-8 year old 1,200. Any activity and it's up by 400 calories more.
MPF should like... look at that, and get right. More proof that lol'ing at 1200 calorie diets is appropriate.0 -
mamapeach910 wrote: »LITtlerMeCO wrote: »softblondechick wrote: »It was eye opening for me to look at the Canadian food recommendations, like half the food portions or less! Check it out.
5.5 Oz of meat a day is the recommendation. Sorry I can't paste link w/ my phone.
wut? Not per meal, per day? wth. I'm flipping a table!
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/MyPyramid_Food_Intake_Patterns.pdf
My diet is so vastly different to that ... I can't even. The recommendations are so low on protein and vegetables.
i know right? I am eating a 12 oz package of tofu today, and 2 fish sammiches, so I basically ate my protien for the week, in one day?
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