Tiny portion sizes.

[Lostvalleyguy]

When it comes to shopping for food, I often read the labels. I look to see not only how many calories are involved but also salt and fat. The problem is that the numbers are based on the portion size indicated on the package. When it comes to people overeating this is a huge issue and can be a very deceptive practice.

While ice cream is hardly the thing to be talking about in a forum about health, it is a good example of how marketing can lead to poor eating decisions. I was looking at the size of a portion (0.5 cups or 125 ml) and the calories and fats are not great, but not too bad. When I thought about it a little more, I realized that I could easily down 2 or more portions in a single serving. I went so far as to measure out one portion. While it would make the ice cream last a lot longer, it is hardly a serving. To be fair, it is about one small scoop on a small cone (about a 6cm or 2.4" diameter scoop).

Perhaps I am used to larger servings, but I feel that small portion sizes are a deceptive way of making a product look healthier than it really is.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Take a packet of Pringles Texas BBQ flavour (these are vegan so I can have them being allergic to all dairy) ... My OH and I can easily consume the packet between us. If you read the contents the packet should have something like 5.7 servings in it and a single serving equates to something like 15 individual pringle chips! (a serving is meant to be 28g in a 160g container!).

A lot of breakfast cereals are exactly the same - what size portion should be give for the calories to 'look reasonable' - that is what I think the manufacturers work by!
(My current cereal is the reverse for some reason - I thought I was eating more than an average serving so weighed the cereal out and was surprised to find I was only eating about 2/3rds of what they 'recommended'.)

 

[LivetoErr]

I think that's a huge issue as to why, as a whole, we are overweight. Not only are you eating more than the serving size, you might not be taking into consideration the percent values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. I wish I could eat 2000 calories and not gain weight.

I wish they would chose portion sizes the average person would eat so when we looked at the numbers we'd shock ourselves and possibly chose not to eat the item. Who only eats a half of cup of ice cream? That's just not realistic.

 

[crimsonghost747]

I think it's very naive to blame numbers on a can for people being overweight. In Europe most items have two numbers, one is their "serving size" and the other is for 100 grams. Makes it easy to compare different products if all of them have the numbers marked down for 100 grams. But in the end it's not really hard to figure out how much you eat and how many calories that will be. I never count any of these since I don't feel the need to, but I know it's doable since I did do it for a while back in the day.