Is It More Important To Look At The Serving Size Or The Servings Per Container?

When it comes to weight loss or getting enough vitamins and nutrients, it is important to be an educated consumer and know how to read nutritional labels. Claims made on food packages can be misleading, and terms such as low-sodium, fat-free and all-natural can make it seem like a product is healthier than it really is. The first step in making your diet healthier, is to understand the difference between a serving size and servings per container or portion of food.

Serving Size

A serving size is a predetermined standardized quantity of food. Serving sizes are set to help you judge how many calories and nutrients you are getting, reports the Weight-control Information Network. A serving size might be listed on the nutrition label as 1 cup, 1 oz., or the entire container or package may be one serving. If you are trying to lose weight or manage a health condition, you may need to initially weigh and measure your food until you can more correctly eyeball the correct serving size. If you are eating the whole package and the container has two or three servings in it, you need to multiply the number of calories per serving by 2 or 3, to know exactly how much you are consuming.

Portion

A portion of food refers the actual quantity of food you eat -- the food that is on your plate or inside a package or container. A portion may contain multiple servings, but many incorrectly use the terms portion and serving size interchangeably. Mistaking a portion of food for a serving size can lead to weight gain and with all of the super-sized portions available. You may have lost track of what an actual serving size is. When buying a container of food, look at the top of the nutrition label to see how many servings the container has. Reading labels is also important if you are trying to prevent or manage a health condition that requires you to limit fat, cholesterol or sodium intake. You can use the servings per container to figure out how much fat, sodium, cholesterol you are getting, if you eat the whole container versus just one serving.

Getting Enough Vitamins and Minerals

When it comes to weight loss, going by serving size versus portion size is important because people tend to overeat when presented with larger packages or plates of food, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is why it is important to not snack out of a package or container. Always measure out and then serve your food in a bowl or on a plate. In addition to weight control, relying on servings sizes can help you to meet your daily needs of three to five servings of vegetables and two to three servings of fruitevery day. This may sound like a lot, but for most vegetables, one serving is 1 cup. A large salad, a bunch of vegetables tossed onto a pasta dish or a bowl of vegetable soup can all add up quickly. When it comes to fruit, one serving is a small or medium piece of fruit, 1/2 cup of fresh fruit or a 6 oz. glass of juice. This means a small container of a vegetable or fruit juice may go a long way to helping you meet your daily needs.

Identifying Serving Sizes of Food

To make sure you are only eating one serving at a restaurant, or when eating foods that have been removed from a container, the American Dietetic Association recommends using common items to judge how much food you have. For example 1 tsp. of margarine is the size of one dice; 3 oz. of meat is the size of a deck of cards; 1 cup of pasta or 1/2 cup of fresh fruit is the size of a baseball. This method can help you when attending social gatherings at a restaurant so you keep portion sizes under control.

Accuracy

One problem with going by serving size is that you may be getting more salt and fat than you think. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sets general limits, and if a serving of food has only a trace of fat or sodium, the manufacturer is allowed to list the food as salt- or fat-free. Some manufacturers may list small serving sizes so they can make these claims. Given this, along with reading the nutrition label, read the ingredient list to look for fat, sodium and other ingredients you may not want to consume.