Serving Size is Regulated

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Created on 01, September, 2009

A food and health blog states that food companies alter serving sizes to control the information on Nutrition Facts labels. 

This generally does not happen, and is not legal. U.S. food labeling regulations spell out serving sizes in 21 CFR section 101.12. When a packaged product contains other than one serving, the way to determine the number of servings is also spelled out (21 CFR 101.9(b)(8)). There is a good reason for using consistent serving sizes for all similar foods – it allows easy comparison of similar foods from a nutrition standpoint. It is also necessary when nutrition or health claims are made for a food. If a company wants to amend the established serving size for a particular food, they must petition FDA with lots of paperwork.