Large Variations in Declared Serving Sizes of Packaged Foods in Australia: A Need for Serving Size Standardisation?

Suzie Yang,Anna Rangan,Luke Gemming

doi:10.3390/nu10020139

Abstract

Declared serving sizes on food packaging are unregulated in Australia, and variations in serving size within similar products reduces the usability of this information. This study aimed to (i) assess the variations in declared serving sizes of packaged foods from the Five Food Groups, and (ii) compare declared serving sizes to the Australian Dietary Guidelines standard serves and typical portion sizes consumed by Australian adults. Product information, including serving size, was collected for 4046 products from four major Australian retailers. Within product categories from the Five Food Groups, coefficients of variation ranged from 0% to 59% for declared serving size and 9% to 64% for energy per serving. Overall, 24% of all products displayed serving sizes similar (within ±10%) to the standard serves, and 23–28% were similar to typical portion sizes consumed by adults, for females and males, respectively. In conclusion, there is substantial variation in the declared serving sizes of packaged foods from the Five Food Groups, and serving sizes are not aligned with either the Dietary Guidelines or typical portion sizes consumed. Future research into effective means of standardising serving sizes is warranted.

Highlights

Nutrition information labelling on packaged food items is a valuable source of information that can assist consumers to engage in more informed food choices and consumption behaviours.In Australia, most packaged foods must adhere to nutrition labelling standards set out in the AustraliaNew Zealand Food Standards Code [1], which are enforced by law
A second aim was to compare the manufacturer-declared serving sizes with the ADG standard serves, and with sex-specific typical portion sizes consumed by Australian adults, as estimated from the 2011–12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) [18]
The Coefficients of variation (CV) for declared serving size ranged from 0% to 59% across product categories

Summary

Introduction

Nutrition information labelling on packaged food items is a valuable source of information that can assist consumers to engage in more informed food choices and consumption behaviours.In Australia, most packaged foods must adhere to nutrition labelling standards set out in the AustraliaNew Zealand Food Standards Code [1], which are enforced by law. In Australia, most packaged foods must adhere to nutrition labelling standards set out in the Australia. Nutrition information panels (NIPs) on food packaging are required to display the serving size and number of servings per package of the food item, as well as the energy (in kilojoules/kJ) and key nutrients, both ‘per serving’ and ‘per g’ (or 100 mL for liquids) of the food [2]. Evidence shows that the use of serving size and per serving nutrient information is poorly understood by consumers [3,4,5,6]. In Australia, this is likely due, in part, to a lack of regulation regarding declared serving sizes, as the quantity of food that constitutes a serving is determined by the food manufacturer [7]. While it is suggested that declared serving sizes “should reflect a realistic portion of the food that a person might normally consume on one eating occasion” [7] (i.e., a realistic portion size), there are no official guidelines specifying what a Nutrients 2018, 10, 139; doi:10.3390/nu10020139 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients

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