I Hate Monday

There is nothing quite like portion distortion, a fact I learned the hard way. Once upon a time, when I was considerably less nutritionally savvy, I got in the habit of grabbing a quick on-the-go breakfast: Kellogg’s Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts. Like many cereals, Pop-Tarts are fortified with several vitamins and minerals, and I considered that having them with a glass of milk (as I usually did) seemed to add to their nutritional value. Then one day I took a closer look at the Nutrition Facts label on the side of the box. I was surprised to notice for the first time that the listed nutritional data was based on one Pop-Tart, even though they’re wrapped two to a package. Everything was doubled, and not just the niacin and vitamin A and iron. So were the calories, sodium – and the saturated fats, which went from 13% to 26%.

That is not a rare occurrence in the world of food labeling. A common example is found on many soft drink labels, which define a Serving size as one cup (8 oz.), even though the bottle may be 16 or 20 oz, or even larger. This is especially deceptive on bottles that are commonly consumed as a single serving. Really, how many people save half a 16 oz. bottle of Coke to drink the next day? Remember, Nutrition Facts are based on Daily Values.
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To address this issue, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed changes to the 20-year-old design of the Nutrition Facts label. Serving sizes will be adjusted to more accurately reflect real-world serving sizes, and showing Servings Per Container larger and in bold should prevent people from unknowingly eating two or more servings when they think they’re only getting one.
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