February 06, 2010

In an effort to fight against the growing problem of obesity, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working on a campaign to encourage manufacturers of food products to place vital nutritional information on the front of the food package (though FDA officials say that labeling will be voluntary -- though the agency may set rules to prevent companies from highlighting the good stuff about the product while ignoring the bad). The hope is that if people see the nutritional information, it will motivate them to eat less or not eat the product (i.e., make healthy choices).

However, one problem to that plan is that nutritional information listed on the packaging can sometimes be misleading, and that's because serving sizes are often too small [and it's completely on purpose. The companies are definitely trying to manipulate or trick the consumers]. The serving size determines all the other nutritional value on the label. As a result, calorie counts can be deceptively lower, if people don't pay careful attention to the label. For example, most potato or corn chip bags today show a one ounce serving size, containing about 150 calories. But very few people only eat an ounce of chips. For the brand Tostitos Hint of Lime, one ounce equals six chips. For ice cream, the serving size is half a cup. For packaged muffins, it is often half a muffin. For cookies, it usually one ounce which can amount to two Double Stuf Oreos. For most children's cereal a serving is three-fourths of a cup; however, children usually eat two cups or more. A survey conducted by the Food Information Council Foundation found that many more people say they look at the calorie number rather than the serving size on which it is based.

As a result, the FDA is now looking at bringing serving sizes into accordance with how Americans really eat [in other words: Serving Size: The whole bag of chips). They want a more accurate and meaningful portion size. Standard serving sizes were first created by the FDA in the early 1990s in order to make it easier to compare nutritional values of different products. Congress had required that the serving sizes should match what people actually ate. To determine that, the FDA evaluated surveys of Americans' eating habits that were taken in the 1970s and 1980s. Some nutritionists says these surveys might not accurately indicate Americans' eating habits since people typically underestimate how much they eat. Moreover, many say that this information is out of date. The FDA has said they plan on re-evaluating serving sizes. This is not the first time they have made that vow -- they said they would in 2005, but it didn't ever happen. The effort has been revived again by the Obama administration.

Some officials worry that raising the standard portions for food products could send the wrong message. There is a fear that, for example, raising the serving size for cookies from one ounce to two ounces, that some consumers might think that the government was telling them that it's okay to eat more. (Full Story)