Serving Size Shenanigans

[sbde]

does it ever drive you insane when you look at the nutritional info on snacks and see what their average serving size is?

my favourite trader joe''s potato chips have a serving size of....get this...7 chips!! what?! who here has ever stopped eating after 7 measly chips?

 

[Skippy123]

I know some of them are weird; like a TJ''s has a butter chicken that is 1.5 serving. I do appreciate knowing that info though; I wish restaurants would do that on the menu, but that is just me.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

The only reason I read the info is because I need to check the amount of sugar in a serving before feeding to my kids, otherwise I try to ignore what the box says.

(It kills me that my favorite Rice Dream mint sandwiches have 300 calories each).

 

[sctsbride09]

I admit I purposely ignore the nutritional info on most convenience foods I buy. Because I do not buy alot of it, I dont want it to be ruined for me when I actually want it!

If i want a handful of chips, damn it Ill eat them.

 

[tlh]

the best is on individually packaged snacks that you would think is one serving but ends up being like 1.5 or 2 (or more!)

 

[kama_s]

Date: 1/12/2010 12:45:26 PM
Author:sbde
does it ever drive you insane when you look at the nutritional info on snacks and see what their average serving size is?

my favourite trader joe''s potato chips have a serving size of....get this...7 chips!! what?! who here has ever stopped eating after 7 measly chips?

ME! Haha. I can never eat more than 5-10 chips in a day! My husband can eat the whole bag in one sitting!!

 

[Sizzle]

I was JUST annoyed by this when reading a box of the Special K Crackers. They''re like 17 chips is 90 calories, but like 24 is 120. WTF! Who counts out their crackers.. Ok well I did, but that''s ONLY because I''m trying to watch my portions but seriously!

 

[radiantquest]

That gets me too. You know those ramen noodles. That come in the rectagular package with the powder flavor. Well I thought that they cant be that bad for you. Sure carbs, but it is just noodles, powder and water. Those little squares are 2 servings! Ridiculous! There is no way 2 people could eat off that.

I never used to read the nutrition facts until recently. I noticed that salsa is pretty good for you. What a shame that you can eat all the salsa you want, but can only have 6 chips.

 

[Erin]

BF and I bought individually wrapped fruit cups for snacks at work. Turns out it''s two servings per cup so we take turns eating the top half and then pass it on.

 

[MustangGal]

I''ve got the opposite problem with the Gerber Puffs for my baby. 1 serving is 90 puffs. That''s way more than a toddler can eat, and how am I supposed to count out 90 little puffy things? They advertise it was so much calcium or whatever in them, but only if the kid eats like half the can at once...

 

[Delster]

I saw a TV programme on the BBC about this once. They gave young children (like 6 or 7 years old) normal sized cereal bowls and got them to pour out their usual amount of morning cereal. Then they compared it to the adult serving size on the cartons. They found the children were eating more than twice the ADULT serving every morning.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I know, they are insane. At least some products now put the serving info and they put the nutritional info for the whole package! It''s still crazy though...

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 1/12/2010 12:45:26 PM
Author:sbde
does it ever drive you insane when you look at the nutritional info on snacks and see what their average serving size is?

my favourite trader joe''s potato chips have a serving size of....get this...7 chips!! what?! who here has ever stopped eating after 7 measly chips?

HI:

I don''t eat a lot of junk food or things like this--so 7 chips seems enough!

cheers--Sharon

 

[elrohwen]

Well, snack foods are typically in 30g increments. It's not mandated, but it's somewhat of an industry standard. But sometimes that makes for weird portion sizes depending on the snack. (not sure why Trader Joe's would ever have 7 chips in a serving?? that's odd - it probably makes the nutritionals look tons better)

They'll waive this on a "single serving" type snack, but only if it lets them claim something positive on the package. For example, if they can make a fiber claim, but only by claming the whole snack pack as one serving, they'll do it. However, if the snack is generally unhealthy, they'll just leave the serving size alone and say there are 1.5 or 2 servings or whatever per bag so that the fat and salt content looks lower.

I think it's stupid that "serving size" has nothing to do with how much you should actually be consuming.

 

[lilyfoot]

Date: 1/12/2010 6:08:34 PM
Author: elrohwen
Well, snack foods are typically in 30g increments. It''s not mandated, but it''s somewhat of an industry standard. But sometimes that makes for weird portion sizes depending on the snack. (not sure why Trader Joe''s would ever have 7 chips in a serving?? that''s odd - it probably makes the nutritionals look tons better)

They''ll waive this on a ''single serving'' type snack, but only if it lets them claim something positive on the package. For example, if they can make a fiber claim, but only by claming the whole snack pack as one serving, they''ll do it. However, if the snack is generally unhealthy, they''ll just leave the serving size alone and say there are 1.5 or 2 servings or whatever per bag so that the fat and salt content looks lower.

I think it''s stupid that ''serving size'' has nothing to do with how much you should actually be consuming.

Agreed. Though, it seems that some posters here think it does

 

[Bella_mezzo]

serving sizes, and for that matter the USDA food pyramid, aren''t really the best judges of the nutrition/calories you should be eating...

 

[sbde]

haha good, so i''m not the only one who feels this way! thanks for your replies everyone.

i''m completely envious of those of you who only need those 7 chips to get their snack fix, my belly would be much happier if i was more like you

radiantquest, the sodium content on ramen noodles just floored me, it''s something like 60% of your daily requirement haha!

 

[4ever]

I''m sure I''ve seen chocolate bars and soft drinks which were more than one serving. I don''t know many people who eat 1/2 a chocolate bar and put the rest away for tomorrow.

I don''t look at serving size, I look at the per 100g so I can judge the % of sugar and fat etc.

Cereal tends to be one which has much smaller serving sizes then most people ectually eat.

 

[4ever]

Date: 1/12/2010 1:05:08 PM
Author: radiantquest

I never used to read the nutrition facts until recently. I noticed that salsa is pretty good for you. What a shame that you can eat all the salsa you want, but can only have 6 chips.

Lol. I love salsa but it does tend to make me eat way more corn chips than I normally would. I might go back to salsa and carrot sticks or find somthing else crunchy to put it on.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Slate published an interesting article on this:

http://www.slate.com/id/2240844/

Basically, the serving sizes are based on too old eating habits and strange conversions.

 

[LadyBlue]

Date: 1/13/2010 4:30:53 AM
Author: 4ever
I''m sure I''ve seen chocolate bars and soft drinks which were more than one serving. I don''t know many people who eat 1/2 a chocolate bar and put the rest away for tomorrow.

I don''t look at serving size, I look at the per 100g so I can judge the % of sugar and fat etc.

Cereal tends to be one which has much smaller serving sizes then most people ectually eat.

Chocolate bars last me more than a week, one bite per day is enough for me

 

[jewelz617]

Date: 1/12/2010 5:16:55 PM
Author: MustangGal
I''ve got the opposite problem with the Gerber Puffs for my baby. 1 serving is 90 puffs. That''s way more than a toddler can eat, and how am I supposed to count out 90 little puffy things? They advertise it was so much calcium or whatever in them, but only if the kid eats like half the can at once...

Just give your baby however many is appropriate for a snack. Don''t rely on any food in "puff" form for nutritional value.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 1/12/2010 5:16:55 PM
Author: MustangGal
I''ve got the opposite problem with the Gerber Puffs for my baby. 1 serving is 90 puffs. That''s way more than a toddler can eat, and how am I supposed to count out 90 little puffy things? They advertise it was so much calcium or whatever in them, but only if the kid eats like half the can at once...

Just because 90 is listed as a serving doesn''t mean your kid should be eating 90 at a time. Serving size has nothing to do with how much you should be consuming.

Also, calcium in snack foods generally isn''t absorbed the same way as it is in other foods, so I wouldn''t rely on it.

 

[vc10um]

Date: 1/12/2010 12:53:05 PM
Author: tlh
the best is on individually packaged snacks that you would think is one serving but ends up being like 1.5 or 2 (or more!)

TLH, this drives me nuts!

I got an individual bag of almonds the other day. Size of bag: 2.2 oz. Serving size: 2 oz. Really??? So there was 1.1 servings in the bag.