Using the Food Buying Guide (FBG) to Determine Amounts of
Food Needed
1. Determine the description of the food to be served, serving size, and number of
servings needed.
2. Use the procedure below to determine the amount of food needed.
The Procedure
A
Purchase Units for
100 servings
(FBG column 5)
A.
B.
C.
D.
X
X
B
Serving Size
Needed
/ (divided by)
Serving Size Listed
in FBG Column 4
X
X
C
Number of Servings
Needed
/ (divided by)
Number of Servings
Listed in FBG
(HINT: usually 100!)
=
=
D
Amount of Food
Needed for the new
serving size and
number of servings
Purchase Units for 100 servings from Column 5 = _________
Serving Size Needed / Serving Size Listed = _________
Number of Servings Needed / Number of Servings Listed = ________
Fill in the blanks and multiply to learn the amount needed!
A _______ X B ______ X C_______ = D _______
For example: You need to serve 160 students ½ cup of canned, cut, green
beans purchased in #10 cans. According to the FBG on page 2-15:
A is equal to 2.3 cans
B is equal to .5 cup / .25 cup = 2
C is equal to 160 / 100 = 1.6
Therefore 2.3 X 2 X 1.6 = 7.36 cans (round up to 8 cans to order!)
The procedure works for all types of food – canned, frozen, fresh – and for
any amounts. Just fill in the blanks correctly and do the math!
Let’s try some more …
1
Decide the amount of frozen, whole kernel corn you will need to serve 18
students 3/8 cup. (Hint: 3/8 is the same as .375) Refer to page 2-36 in the
FBG.
Remember the procedure.
The Procedure
A
Purchase Units for
100 servings
(FBG column 5)
A.
B.
C.
D.
X
X
B
Serving Size
Needed
/ (divided by)
Serving Size Listed
in FBG Column 4
X
X
C
Number of Servings
Needed
/ (divided by)
Number of Servings
Listed in FBG
(HINT: usually 100!)
=
=
D
Amount of Food
Needed for the new
serving size and
number of servings
Purchase Units for 100 servings from Column 5 = 9.1 lbs
Serving Size Needed / Serving Size Listed = .375 / .25
Number of Servings Needed / Number of Serv Listed = 18 / 100
Fill in the blanks and multiply to learn the amount needed!
A is equal to _______________________________ lbs
B is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
C is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
A _______ lbs X B ______ X C_______ = D _______ lbs
2
Decide the amount of canned diced pears you will need to serve 88
students 1/4 cup. (Hint: 1/4 is the same as .25)
Remember the procedure.
The Procedure
A
Purchase Units for
100 servings
(FBG column 5)
A.
B.
C.
D.
X
X
B
Serving Size
Needed
/ (divided by)
Serving Size Listed
in FBG Column 4
X
X
C
Number of Servings
Needed
/ (divided by)
Number of Servings
Listed in FBG
(HINT: usually 100!)
=
=
D
Amount of Food
Needed for the new
serving size and
number of servings
Purchase Units for 100 servings from Column 5 = _________ cans
Serving Size Needed / Serving Size Listed = _________
Number of Servings Needed / Number of Servings Listed = ________
Fill in the blanks and multiply to learn the amount needed!
A is equal to _______________________________ cans
B is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
C is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
A _______ lbs X B ______ X C_______ = D _______ cans
3
Decide the amount of pork ham you will need to serve 20 students 2
ounces of meat/meat alternate meal pattern credit in a sub sandwich.
(Refer to page 1-50 in the FBG.)
The Procedure
A
Purchase Units for
100 servings
(FBG column 5)
A.
B.
C.
D.
X
X
B
Serving Size
Needed
/ (divided by)
Serving Size Listed
in FBG Column 4
X
X
C
Number of Servings
Needed
/ (divided by)
Number of Servings
Listed in FBG
(HINT: usually 100!)
=
=
D
Amount of Food
Needed for the new
serving size and
number of servings
Purchase Units for 100 servings from Column 5 = _________ lbs
Serving Size Needed / Serving Size Listed = _________
Number of Servings Needed / Number of Servings Listed = ________
Fill in the blanks and multiply to learn the amount needed!
A is equal to _______________________________ lbs
B is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
C is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
A _______ lbs X B ______ X C_______ = D _______ lbs
You will divide this ____ lb of ham evenly among the 20 sandwiches!
Decide the amount of canned vegetarian beans you will need to serve 65
students 1/2 cup. (Hint: 1/2 is the same as .5) Refer to page 2-19 in the
FBG.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Purchase Units for 100 servings from Column 5 = _________ cans
Serving Size Needed / Serving Size Listed = _________
Number of Servings Needed / Number of Servings Listed = ________
Fill in the blanks and multiply to learn the amount needed!
A is equal to _______________________________ cans
B is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
C is equal to ___________ / ____________ = ____________
A _______ lbs X B ______ X C_______ = D _______ cans
4
Using the Food Buying Guide (FBG) to Determine Recipe Yield
Determine the description of the food to be served, serving size desired, and amount of
the food item included in the recipe.
1. Use the procedure below to determine the number of servings you should obtain
for the amount of the food item used.
The Procedure
A
Number of units
used in the recipe
A.
B.
C.
D.
X
B
/
(Divided
by)
Units from the
FBG needed for
100 servings of
the size that you
plan for the menu
X
C
=
D
X
100
=
Minimum number of
servings the recipe
should yield
Number of units (cans, lbs, etc) used in the recipe = _________
Units needed for 100 servings = _________
= 100
Fill in the blanks and do the math to learn the minimum number of
servings the recipe will yield!
A _______ / B ______ X C
100
= D _______
For example: You will prepare 2 cans of canned, cut, green beans
purchased in #10 cans and you plan to serve ½ cup fruit/vegetable meal
pattern credit servings.
A is equal to 2 cans
According to information provided by the FBG on page 2-15: B is equal to
4.6 #10 cans (Refer to earlier information about how to determine this!)
C is equal 100
Therefore 2 / 4.6 X 100 = 43 (½ cup) servings (Remember to always
round down so that servings will be adequate.
When this menu item is served, if you are able to serve more than 43
servings, the serving size is too small. You should monitor the servers to
ensure that they are using the correct serving utensil. If you are able to
serve less than 43, the serving size is larger than you planned. This will
increase food cost. You should monitor and retrain servers to use the
correct size portion control utensil and not overfill the contents.
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The procedure works for all types of food – canned, frozen, fresh – and for
any amounts. Just fill in the blanks correctly and do the math!
Let’s try another. You purchase cabbage, fresh green shredded ready to
use in 5 lb bags to make cole slaw. To make preparation easy, you want to
write the recipe for 5 lb of cabbage and tell employees how much
mayonnaise, salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard to add. You are not sure
how many servings you are supposed to get form this combination of
ingredients to provide ½ cup fruit/vegetable meal pattern credit. Therefore
you perform the math:
A is equal to 5 lb
According to information provided by the FBG on page 2-27:
B is equal to 7.6 lb (Refer to earlier information about how to determine
this!)
C is equal 100
Therefore 5 / 7.6 X 100 = 65 (½ cup fruit/veg meal pattern credit)
servings (Remember to always round down so that servings will be
adequate.) The next step is to scoop the finished product to determine the
spoodle or scoop size needed to actually get no more than 65 servings
from the 5 lb of cabbage. (Remember, that there are added ingredients –
mayo, etc.)
Let’s try another example. You purchase beef, ground, fresh or frozen, not
more than 20% fat in 10 lb frozen packages to make spaghetti sauce. To
make preparation easy, you want to write the recipe for 10 lb of beef and
tell employees how much tomato sauce, seasonings, and cooked noodles
to add. You are not sure how many servings you are supposed to get to
provide 2 oz meat/meat alternate meal pattern credit. Therefore you
perform the math:
A is equal to 10 lb
According to information provided by the FBG on page 1-16: B is equal to
17 lb (Refer to earlier information about how to determine this!)
C is equal 100
Therefore 10 / 17 X 100 = 58 (2 oz meat/meat alternate meal pattern
credit) servings (Remember to always round down so that servings will be
adequate.)
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Now that you know you should get 58 (2 oz) M/MA servings from the 10 lb
of ground beef, you decide that you want the recipe to also contribute 1
grain/bread serving from the noodles. Page 3-28 of the FBG says that it
takes 9.5 lb of noodles for 100 (1/2 cup G/B meal pattern credit).
Therefore, it will take 5.6 lb or about 5 lb 10 oz of noodles for 58 servings
(i.e. 9.5 lb X .58 = 5.6 lb). So you write the recipe to include this amount
of noodles with the 10 lb of beef and adequate tomato products and
seasonings to obtain a quality spaghetti menu item.
The next step is to yield test (i.e. scoop) the finished product to determine
the spoodle or scoop size needed to actually get no more than 58 servings
from the recipe containing the specified amounts of ground beef and
noodles. (Remember, you may have to test the yield more than once with
various utensil sizes to find the right one!)
If you need additional assistance, contact your SMI Consultant.
Region 7
Sarah Edwards, MNS RD LDN
Region 4
Rebecca Brandon, RD LDN
251 Jones Road
Mill Springs, NC 28756
3865 Judy Lane
Leland, NC 28451
Region 2
Susan Thompson, MS RD LDN
Region 5
Doris Sargent, Ed.D RD LDN
281 Dodd-McLamb Road
Four Oaks, NC 27524
919-218-4090 (cell)
5002 Echo Ridge Road
Raleigh, NC 27612
Region 8
Trip Warren, MHS RD LDN
Region 3
Sarah Hinton, MS RD LDN
124 Boulder Way
Asheville, NC 28803
104 Nassau Court
Nashville, North Carolina 27856
Region 6
Flo Smith, RD, LDN
3501 Murchie Avenue
Greensboro, NC 27405
Region 1
Leslie Otts, RD LDN
309 Orchard Drive
Elizabeth City, NC 27909
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1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-941
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