the universe is a bounty of mysteries
who let the dogs out why is a mouse when
it spins and what is a serving size the
answer is nobody knows and how could we
when the numbers food manufacturers put
on labels are so darn nebulous depending
on how its packaged there are five
different serving sizes of John West
tuna and olive oil
ranging from 64 grams to 83 grams this
is one serve of golden valley diced
fruit salad and so is this depending on
which package you buy and this is one
serve of Galia french vanilla yogurt and
this is one serve and this well I guess
that helps explain their ads kaalia
gives me the added vitality I need for
everything I do
or as valia themselves put it there is
actually no standard in relation to
serving sizes and what amount
constitutes a serving size is at the
discretion of each company now if you're
the sort of person who relies on these
daily intake guide figures when you go
shopping then this is a major flaw in
the system because these numbers are
based on the serving size of a product
so this tab here would seem healthier
than this tub just because it's serving
sizes smaller and by setting their
serving size at 30 grams Coco Pops can
keep their nutrition numbers looking
like this even though most people would
pour themselves a bowl of crunchy
chocolate milkshake more like this
closer to two Serbs
which does this to their daily intake
guide numbers
some people get a little cynical about
this situation suggesting these serving
sizes are being manipulated to mislead
consumers that is just a myth according
to the food industry's lobby group the
Food and Grocery Council who championed
the system and to prove it they cited
this example the beverage industry has
agreed that product up to an including
600 Mills should be designated single
serves and that above that size a single
serve shall be 250 mils so if I want a
single serve of coke I get this much
from this bottle or this much from this
bottle does that clear things up huh
damn these guys are good Hey Australian
Food and Grocery Council have your
people call our people now the Food and
Grocery Council would say that the
reason this bottle of coke is only one
serve is because for a bottle that size
you'd expect someone to drink the whole
thing
fair enough and yet this Campbell's go
soup in a convenient microwavable pouch
which can't be reheated or refilled
contains two soups are they seriously
expecting this to feed to people not
while I'm around
and this man-sized chunky fully loaded
pub greats lamb curry guaranteed to
satisfy a man-sized hunger like no soup
ever before poor little dead man's got
balls
a fully crowned it actually contains two
serves per can which oddly enough are
exactly the same size as the
version Campbell's country ladle with
delicious farm picked vegetables but
there's more according to the Food and
Grocery Council single serve items
should be appropriately sized for the
target market so why does this man size
bag of Smith's max chips contain 3.7
servings per package is it three point
seven man sighs hey oh and if certain
portions should be realistic why is it
that there are eight servings per Pizza
Domino's because there are eight slices
in a pizza finally something that makes
sense
yeah but Domino's also say that a person
normally eats half a pizza now that's a
realistic assessment but it doesn't do
great things for their nutritional
numbers so calling one slice a serve
works out well for Domino's but not so
well for you boy no wonder Domino's
we're always hungry
and finally the Food and Grocery Council
say that the single serve in a multi
pack should bear some relation to the
single serving size of a single serve
pack which is strange because both of
things Google serves four different
sizes and both of them are different
from the serving size of the bigger
packet well according to M&M there are
two funds to a party and the only thing
more fun than a party is sitting alone
eating a whole pack of M&Ms
what she's right you know we're not
saying this is a giant conspiracy or
even a fun size conspiracy it's just
that serving sizes are complicated and
confusing and that can make it harder to
keep track of your actual consumption if
you do want to know what you should be
consuming a good place to start
at the Australian Dietary Guidelines
although they can be a little bit
depressing Australian Dietary Guidelines
serve madam that's why I don't go to the
Australian Dietary Guidelines Christmas
party but if you want to win healthy
there the Serbs for you the serving
sizes the food companies choose well
they should be taken with a serve of
salt what