Serving size, Amounts per serving, Servings per container

no1texan

I am struggling with understanding service size, or amounts per serving and servings per container. I see these in different but similar wording from foods and recipes.

Any clear and simple explanations?

Thanks

jennagoogles13

Serving size and amount per serving are the same thing. They just tell you about how much you should be eating, and what the contents of one serving are (total calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc.) and the servings per container tells you how many servings are made/available.

SeaTurtleJenni

The additional thing to look at is the number of servings per container. The nutritional information listed is per serving, not per container. No matter how small the container is, there may be several servings inside of it. There isn't any standard of measurement for what constitutes a serving size. It is up to the manufacturer to decide what amount they want a serving to be. One muffin can be four servings. It looks more appealing to consumers to label it: "200 calories per serving, 4 servings per container", than "800 calories per serving, 1 serving per container". Even though it means exactly the same thing.

Saltines considers 5 crackers to be a serving. A serving has 60 calories.

Wheat Thins considers 16 crackers to be a serving. A serving has 140 calories.

I believe most cans of soup and tuna are 2.5 servings, so if you eat the entire can you need to look at the calories listed and multiply it by 2.5

It helps to get a food scale. This will really help with cheese and meat. You might be surprised by the size of an ounce of cheese or 3 oz of meat. Surprised in a disappointed way.