Food Servings! What a joke!

tasman11

I am baffled by the brains behind food portions. A recommended single serving of cornflakes is 30gm .They have to be out of their mind to think that this quantity could even fulfill the requirement of a 4 year old kid let alone us adults.
Not just this,most foods have a shocking serving size. Maybe the companies are trying to dodge food regulators.

Lyadeia

I think this is especially true for processed junk foods. I used to have a lot of hamburger helper before I cleaned up my diet. According to most boxes of this, there are anywhere from 5-8 servings per box (depending on the flavor, oddly enough). I used to cook it fo me and my boyfriend at the time, and it was done like that. Cause the box only filled 2 small plates...

I agree though, it must be the companies trying to look good on their nutrition info for regulations or even for dieters. I love how Pringles or other chips say a serving size is like 6 chips. On what planet does 6 chips fill you up as a snack?

JennieD2

:laugh: I always weigh out my cereal but have 1.5 or sometimes 2 x the "recommended" serving.
As long as you track what you actually have it doesn't matter what the manufacturer suggests.
I think you're right about the food regulators. After all fat, sugar and salt content all look fine if you only eat the recommended serving :ohwell:

RoanneRed

I particularly hate single purchase chocolate (etc.) bars that have more than 1 serving to the bar - AS IF I am only going to eat half of it!

jesienia

That's true. I try to follow the serving size and it normally fills me up, but then I'm hungry again an hour later. lol

Bellyroll

Totally agree with you I am surprise by them. I think they should re-do the whole food thing and make it better for us.

AmerTunsi

Yeah, it irritates me as well! I especially notice it for my bran cereal ... it is literally like 3 or 4 tablespoons! Then yesterday, I was cooking these organic Enchilada things and it said that a serving is one, there were two in the box, and they were the size of my longest finger... who only eats one?! I don't think the food companies should be able to determine what a portion is .. it should be standardized and realistic.

Pebble321

I think you're right, if they recommend a small serving size, then they can fool you into thinking it's a healthier choice because it's less calories/fat/sodium etc per serve.

I bought a prepackaged salad on the weekend - which filled a container about the size of a large cereal bowl. It was just chopped up veggies like carrot, capsicum, cherry tomatoes etc with no dressing. I would have guessed that it would be a BIG salad for one or a reasonable side salad for 2 (or maybe 3). But, according to the pack, there were 6 servings - completely nuts!

The other problem is that serving sizes in restaurants are so completely over the top in terms of being huge (especially in the US, from what I hear, but also in some places here in Australia too) that we have no idea what a regular portion should be anymore.

I know there are some good guides out there, I've seen links to some of them on the forums here, they might be a good reference.

rschuurman

So with you on that Tas! I always eat double serving size of cereal plus put a bit of fruit on top! Breakfast is my most important and I sometimes biggest (calorie-wise) meal of my day. It normally keeps me going till lunch with just a piece of fruit in between as I mix oats with a bran / protein cereal to keep me full. I love it!

lovelyimage

Sometimes it depends on the food really - I have the 30g portion of my sultana bran with 80ml of soya milk every morning and I'm okay till lunch but thats not the same with all products!

tasman11

I normally consume 200ml of skimmed milk ,50-60gm of Kellogs cornflakes with 1.25 Tbsp sugar.Some of you might consider this a large portion but a good breakfast keeps you active all day long. I also never go over my 1500 Calorie limit.

PhiMuHoney

Serving Sizes in the US are extremely out of control when you go to a resteraunt. The Cheesecake Factory chain resteraunt here in the states has a weight management chicken and rice dish that is tasty and lower than most of their other options, but it is served to you in a HUGE bowl with 3 chicken breasts and probably about 10 cups of brown rice.

porffor

I gave up 'cereal' a long time ago because of this reason, we have large bowls (yes will be shopping for smaller but we've had these for over a decade). So the temptation is to 'fill it' up and then when you weigh it you get a blooming shock! lol
I love sugar too so if I have a non-sugared cereal the spoon of sugar is big.. oops.

Porridge - with a banana was my breakfast this morning. No sugar, skimmed milk and filling as anything.

If I can't face a hot breakfast (which is most days in fairness) i have weetabix or slimfast. I'm coming round to changing the 'shake' to something with more protein (from what i've read whey is the way to go..).

The packaging and portion sizes are as already said, aimed at tricking you into thinking it's not as bad as it is.. label reading and understanding is an art.. one we all need to learn.

Forensic

Keep in mind cereal is supposed to be PART of a balance breakfast. That means some fruit or juice, some protein (ie sausage, etc), it's not supposed to be the only calorie source to begin the day.

katkins3

It makes me laugh that there are 3.5 servings in a can of diced tomatoes!
I wonder if this weird serving sizing is an American thing or if other countries have more helpful nutritional information.
Anyone know?

jfinnivan

I was looking at the different varieties of Special-K in the supermarket yesterday. Depending on the type (berries, original, chocolate, fruit and yogurt, etc.), the serving size was either 1 cup, 3/4 cup, or 2/3 cup. It looks like they're basing the serving size on the number of calories instead of quantity.

lockef

I believe those microwaveable Campbells soups are 2 or 2.5 servings. Honestly, I'd respect a company more if they'd be more upfront.

jgb1001

Every food company, at least here in the US, has to abide by the laws and serving sizes laid out by the USDA. Each particular food group has it's own standard serving size. It used to be that the food companies could "trick" you into buying their product by listing an unrealistic portion size in order to keep the calorie count on the label low. Now, however, they must abide by the label laws laid out by the USDA. I agree with the person who said that cereal is only a part of a balanced breakfast. If the portion seems small to you, it probably is. Add a piece of fruit, and a healthy protein. Or, if your in a rush, just do two servings, and log the calories accordingly Here is a link to a great video from my local gym. In the beginning of the video they discuss food labels, and label laws. I thought it was interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eExaQpyHPY

CraftyGirl4

Actually it's the FDA that sets those standards. Food companies just have to follow them or risk having their product being pulled from the market. I work for a food manufacturer, and I do the labeling for our products. We have to follow what's called the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21. There is a section in there 21CFR 101.12 that lists "reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion." Cornflakes are 30 grams per serving and fall under "Breakfast cereals, ready-to-eat weighing 20 g or more but less than 43 g per cup; high fiber cereals containing 28 g or more of fiber per 100 g"

16mixingbowls

I hate this too! Yesterday, since I was working really hard on meeting my calories, I only had 1/2 of a Luna bar. I put the other half back in the cabinet. This morning my boyfriend saw it and was like, "WHAT is this?!?!?!?" I told him it's my new lifestyle! Hah!

I have started noticing some foods that have a label on the front that has the 'true' nutritional values. I can't find any articles right now (not enough coffee in my system yet) but I remember that health advocates want the fat and calories more prominent, and in bigger fonts and brighter colors, but food manufacturers DON'T want this clear labeling.

At least here in California fast food companies have to post their nutritional info right on the menu. It's definitely helped my boyfriend not choose the carnitas California-style burrito at El Pollo Loco anymore. (It's a pork burrito with french fries and guacamole and cheese inside! 1100 calories!!!))

Oh, and this reminds me of a guy at a coffee shop who told me that half-and-half cream is way better than 2% milk. He showed me the container that said H&H has 40 calories and 2% has 90. He didn't see that the H&H was 1 tablespoon and the 2% was 8 ounces! It's people like this that really need the clearer labeling.

Johnsweaver

My wife got a gift card to PF Changs so we checked out the website to see what might be a reasonable choice for dinner. At first glance most of the items looked fairly reasonable being in the 600-700 calorie range per serving. Then we noticed that each entree had 2 or 3 servings and probably didn't include rice. It wouldn't be difficult to have a 2000 calorie meal.

We went to their happy hour and had a couple appetizers and a glass of wine instead.

ansonrinesmith

I saw one that blew my mind. Product advertised as LOW SODIUM. Less than 35mg per 8oz.
Serving Size: 12oz (50mg)
WTH!

Valechka

Same for ice cream, here in US regular "small" over ice cream shop is size is 3-4 serving sizes , kids size is 2 sizes ... So we go to real frozen yogurt place were you can get smaller size and also it has good bacteria in it, my son loves ice cream, and now it is hot here

uhhmandaa

I'm pretty sure serving sizes are like that so you can eat a balanced diet. Say eat cereal with skim milk with some fruit salad and coffee for breakfast. Or Hamburger helper with squash and asparagus for dinner. Their not meant to be the ONLY thing you eat.

Qarol

I think it's mostly on purpose so they can claim lower calorie content. In my case, if a serving has less than one gram of carbs, they can list zero. But 0.9 is less than 1, yet 3-4 servings of that can add up for me on a low carb diet.

marie_2454

Keep in mind cereal is supposed to be PART of a balance breakfast. That means some fruit or juice, some protein (ie sausage, etc), it's not supposed to be the only calorie source to begin the day.

This is exactly what I was thinking! All of these pre-packaged foods are meant to be part of a meal, not the whole meal. That's why they're usually so small.