PLEASE HELP: Net wt. VS. Serving size discrepancy!!

aninfinitesymphony
aninfinitesymphony Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Alright y'all.
I'm trying to figure out how much of these sweet potato chips I ate last night, and it should be a mere matter of weighing it on my food scale, except the package is...off.

Nutrition facts: 30 grams = 1 serving, about 4.5 servings per container. 170 calories/serving.

Net Wt. = 198 grams. = 6.6 servings per container

WHAT IS THE REAL AMOUNT???

I weighed out the remainder, which is 90 grams or 3 servings.

Trusting the nutrition facts, that means I ate 1.5 servings,
Trusting the Net Wt., that means I ate 3.6 servings

WHICH IS REAL, PLEASE HELP!

I know net weight refers to the weight of the contents, but then shouldn't the nutrition facts reflect that and say about 6.5 servings? What the hey? They are a product of Canada if that makes any difference.

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Nutrition labels are allowed to be off by, I think, about 20%. I would trust the net weight, myself, and log 3.6 servings.

    In the grand scheme of things this one event won't make a big difference, so I wouldn't stress about it too much. :flowerforyou:

    You're going to have up days and down days throughout this process. If it becomes a problem though you might want to start measuring out your servings before you eat them.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Always go by weight.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    That is interesting, I've never seen an example that bad, usually the 20% as mentioned above.

    About 4.5 meaning 3.5 to 5.5.

    But to get the error you got, it would usually be because there was actually more product in the bag then they said, so like if you weighed the whole contents of bag you'd come up with actual 220 gram, and then at 30 per serving you got 7.33.

    Curious what the brand and product is, in case they have stuff in the states.

    I know I'm going to weigh my next Clif bar now, since that's made in Canada, perhaps some conversion chart is off.

    Just shows the fact of weighing even packaged items and confirming the math, even ones where you may eat the whole package.
    Couple times a day with something like that and similar, and a small deficit near goal weight could be wiped out.
  • aninfinitesymphony
    aninfinitesymphony Posts: 6
    Curious what the brand and product is, in case they have stuff in the states.

    I know I'm going to weigh my next Clif bar now, since that's made in Canada, perhaps some conversion chart is off.

    Just shows the fact of weighing even packaged items and confirming the math, even ones where you may eat the whole package.
    Couple times a day with something like that and similar, and a small deficit near goal weight could be wiped out.

    The brand is SimplyNature, from the Aldi chain, sold in the US though manufactured in Canada according to the package. I'd wanted to call or email them on it but the form to do so is just so terribly long, ugh.
    And you're right! It's terrifying to think of, actually, as there probably are many examples this bad elsewhere on the shelves.
  • jmcolyar
    jmcolyar Posts: 2 Member
    Net weight and serving size are independent of each other when labeling is done though they should correlate a bit. The serving size nutrition facts are correct for the serving size. Net weight should be also correct and is purely the product in the package. You should calculate your calories by how many servings you had and not by the servings per container.
  • benevempress
    benevempress Posts: 136 Member
    I am told that, at least in the United States, the companies can be off by up to 20% as long as the error is "in favor of the consumer" (meaning that there is more in the package than they claim, not less). This is why if you are working with a small calorie deficit you really should weigh everything--even packaged foods, because you may be eating more calories than you think.

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