Question about “servings per container”
GeauxL
Posts: 57 Member
I weigh &/or measure every serving of what I eat/drink. The question I have is that sometimes a package may say ie. 4 servings per container. But, on some items, when I measure out a serving, or two, what is left doesn’t equal out to the remaining servings according to the package. For instance, the riced cauliflower & sweet potatoes by Green Giant package states the serving size is 1 cup & there are 4 serving per package. All I’ve ever been able to get from the package is about 2.5 servings & I use a measuring cup, don’t pack it down, & don’t go over a cup. Does anyone else find this with certain products? I don’t want to go over the serving size & nutritional values but I know I’m measuring correctly.
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Replies
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It’s just mislabeled or doesn’t contain the amount it claims. Nothing to do with the product, but company error2
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Labels are allowed to be off by up to 20%, but also measuring will never be totally correct. Weigh what you eat, and you'll figure out if there's actually four servings and you're under-logging, or if there's only 2.5 servings, and you're over-logging.2
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Yeah, I find that a lot. The nutrition info is measured using the gram weight of a serving listed. The volume measurement (cups, # of chips, etc) and the servings per container are "estimated", and often not well!6
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You have to go by weight, not volume. Especially with foods that shrink when cooked.6
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A “serving size” is meaningless. Weigh your food and log the number of grams you ate. The number of grams you eat does not need to match the number of grams listed as a “serving.”4
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It’s talking about the grams listed. Just weigh the serving to match the grams it lists as a serving.1
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Weigh it - since calories is per gram.
Or weigh the amount you want to eat, then divide by the grams per serving.
And no - the number of servings per package rarely match, even when it's 1 serving per package - because the stated weight and what's actually in there may not match either.
Be aware frozen stuff is almost always weighed frozen when they talk about servings, not the cooked product that has lost water weight. Or gained perhaps if you add water.
Why are you measuring with cups when you have a scale - much harder and worse cleanup too.
If you can only weigh after cooking, then you need to weigh the whole amount when finished - then weigh how much of it you ate - and divide so see how many servings of the total you ate.1 -
I’m measuringnwith cups when the nutrition info listed on the package is cups per serving. When it’s ounces, I weigh.3
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Problem is, products can settle during shipping. If I measure a cup of whole crackers versus a cup of broken, in general, the broken crackers will weigh more because more of the smaller pieces will fit into the cup.3
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lebasgeauxtigers wrote: »I’m measuringnwith cups when the nutrition info listed on the package is cups per serving. When it’s ounces, I weigh.
It should also have a weight, usually in brackets next to a measurement. Go with the weight when available!4 -
Is this the product? (https://www.greengiant.com/products/detail/green-giant-riced-cauliflower-sweet-potato/)
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The calories by weight are the more reliable I would think. Safeway canned tomatoes are like this - 3.5 servings is never true, by weight it's always nearer 3.3
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If it is, that's good example of one actually being correct for servings per package.
85 x 4 = 340g, which is what the package says.
Of course, accuracy of what is actually in the package could be slightly off, but probably not by much.
The kicker - that is obviously uncooked weight.
I'm sure when cooked it loses some moisture and weight.
So you either weigh out whatever you'd eat in frozen state.
Or that little, eat the whole bag at once and just use the Tare function to find total weight in bag before cooking. 200 cal is side dish.0 -
If it is, that's good example of one actually being correct for servings per package.
85 x 4 = 340g, which is what the package says.
Of course, accuracy of what is actually in the package could be slightly off, but probably not by much.
The kicker - that is obviously uncooked weight.
I'm sure when cooked it loses some moisture and weight.
So you either weigh out whatever you'd eat in frozen state.
Or that little, eat the whole bag at once and just use the Tare function to find total weight in bag before cooking. 200 cal is side dish.
That was my thought. Eat the whole bag. Problem solved!
(OK not really, because you still have to deal with the issue of the actual amounts not matching the provided nutrition information but 50 calories of cauliflower and sweet potato doesn't go very far for me.)
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pinggolfer96 wrote: »It’s just mislabeled or doesn’t contain the amount it claims. Nothing to do with the product, but company error
An error in their favor. Personally I think this kind of misleading labels is done to trick consumers.0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »lebasgeauxtigers wrote: »I’m measuringnwith cups when the nutrition info listed on the package is cups per serving. When it’s ounces, I weigh.
It should also have a weight, usually in brackets next to a measurement. Go with the weight when available!
But... It is hard to do so sometines because the grams at the top is often too small to read it. (I have old eyes). Lol0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »lebasgeauxtigers wrote: »I’m measuringnwith cups when the nutrition info listed on the package is cups per serving. When it’s ounces, I weigh.
It should also have a weight, usually in brackets next to a measurement. Go with the weight when available!
But... It is hard to do so sometines because the grams at the top is often too small to read it. (I have old eyes). Lol
Get a magnifying glass. I have one for extremely small print.0 -
More importantly does this taste good? I am going to look for it.
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Yes it does. I find it much better than the plain riced cauliflower, the sweet potato cuts that “cauliflower” after taste. Last night I added it (1 cup) to some browned/sautéed ground turkey, onions, asparagus, red bell pepper, & baby Bella mushrooms & it was delish. I’ve also had it as a side dish.1
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I want to try it too, sounds interesting.
I need to get a better marker for writing on those plastic bags, I just write on it weight of product I'm eating.
Sharpie is failing.
That way I can bring the bag in and confirm the entry I find.
Or if eating partial, starting weight, then next weight after I take what I want (chips usually), then next time next weight, ect.0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »lebasgeauxtigers wrote: »I’m measuringnwith cups when the nutrition info listed on the package is cups per serving. When it’s ounces, I weigh.
It should also have a weight, usually in brackets next to a measurement. Go with the weight when available!
Ya, it should have a weight. Go with the weight.0
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