“Suggested” Serving Size?

By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom

With all the focus on reading nutrition labels, there’s a glaring point of confusion for so many people: how many servings are in a package? We read about calories, protein, fat, sodium, and fiber in a serving – and often just glance at the number of servings per package. Most people look at a package, and assume if it looks like one serving, it is. It’s essential to look at both the nutrient information per serving AND the number of servings per package. This “suggestion” is what the nutrient calculation is based on.

Sadly, people aren’t paying enough attention to these suggested serving sizes (and you can eat more or less of the suggestion!). According to a survey of 2,500 US adults, more than one-fourth of consumers reported eating the whole package of a product in one sitting, when the product contained 2 or 3 servings per package. And those “family size” packages, intended for 4 people? These were routinely consumed by one or two people!

This kind of disconnect between serving size and number of servings per package can easily cause overeating and weight creep over time. It’s easy to avoid, when you become a more mindful label reader.

What do you think of these “suggested” serving sizes? Share your thoughts!