Serving Size Confusion
Let’s Go Shopping
Grocery List
Milk
Bread
Yogurt
Tortillas
WHAT
• People want to know what to eat and
how much to eat…
• …and there are tools available:
My Plate
Nutrition Facts label
Both use standard serving sizes to
compare nutritional and caloric
content of similar foods
but
they are NOT the same!
(did you know they have very different purposes?)
Let’s learn more about
Serving Sizes
1. Purpose of MyPlate
2. Purpose of Nutrition Facts label
3. What’s a person to do?
MyPlate History
• Provided by the USDA & US DHHS
• Initially published in 1980 as
“Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for
Americans”
– Revised to Food Pyramid in 1992
– Revised to MyPyramid in 2005
– is now MyPlate as of 2011/2012
(different from previous guides, such as “4 food groups”)
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp , Welsh SO, Davis C, Shaw A USDA’s Food Guide
Background and Development, 1993, and USDA, US DHHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010.
What is MyPlate?
• Visual illustration of the
2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
– Outlines the Federal nutrition policy and
nutrition education activities
– Goal: to improve health by promoting
healthy eating and physical activity choices
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp and USDA, US DHHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
MyPlate’s Purpose
• To translate the guidelines and nutrient
standards like Recommended Dietary
Allowances (RDAs) into food group-based
advice for a healthful diet
• How much of which foods you need each day
based on your
– age
– gender
– physical activity level
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
MyPlate Serving Sizes
Based on 4 factors:
1. Typical portion sizes (food consumption surveys)
2. Ease of use
3. Nutrient content
4. Tradition (amount in previous food guides)
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
Let’s learn more about
Serving Sizes
1. Purpose of MyPlate
2. Purpose of Nutrition Facts label
3. What’s a person to do?
Nutrition Label History
• Regulated by the FDA
• 1990 Nutrition Labeling & Education Act (NLEA)
• 1992 Nutrition facts are required on foods
– lists the most important nutrients in an easy-tofollow, standardized format
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
What is a Nutrition Fact
Label?
• It provides
– a food’s serving size
– the number of servings per container
– amounts of key nutrients per serving as a
percentage of Daily Values (%DV) for a
2,000-calorie diet
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
Nutrition Label Purpose
• To provide more uniform serving sizes, which
enables nutritional comparisons of similar foods
– Before FDA regulation, the choice of serving sizes on
food labels was up to the discretion of individual food
manufacturers
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
Nutrition Label Serving Sizes
Based on but not necessarily equal to
the amount of food customarily
eaten at one time
(from nationwide food consumption surveys)
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
Nutrition Label Serving
Sizes
Reference amounts are classified in three
ways:
1. bulk products
2. divided products
3. discrete units
USDA Nutrition Insights, Issue 22, 2000. http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
Let’s learn more about
Serving Sizes
1. Purpose of MyPlate
2. Purpose of Nutrition Facts label
3. What’s a person to do?
What’s a person to do?
Stay calm –
remember what each tool offers and
that you use BOTH to make healthful
choices!
Purposes Review
• MyPlate helps people determine
how much to eat each day
based on calorie needs
• Nutrition Facts labels help people
compare similar foods to see
which is more nutritious
Knowing how much you need
AND
the better food option
enables you to make healthful choices