Food packages list the nutritional content for a serving of that food. Who decides what is the size of a serving?
by 
Glenn Blaylock
ANSWERS: 6
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In the U.S. it is the Food and Drug Administration that regulates what constitutes a serving. This link shows you some of their past decisions. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fr05404c.html
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In Canada it is determined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/guide/ch6e.shtml#6.2
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Comedian, Brian Regan, has a great take on this question. His observations are: "Fig Newtons" 2 each? No it is a whole sleeve. Ice Cream: 1/3 cup? No it is when the spoon hits the bottom of the container and you tear apart the container to lick all the sides.
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The company that makes the food determines the serving size, examples being: Yoghurt - in Australia you can get a two-pack of 200g per tub, you would think a tub is a serving as you cannot close the container when finished, but in fact the serving size is 100g, so one tub = two servings. Mars lite - smaller in size than a mars regular - thus easier to claim lower fat per serve if you fiddle with the serving size. All nutrition panels should contain a per 100g (or equivalent measure in your imperial terms) so labels can be compared by a common amount rather than by serving size, and this 100g column is mandated by government (in Australia at least).
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I dunno, It's pretty out of whack. 2/3 of an olive is 1 serving. and regular soda cans are 1 serving, but so are those tiny, half size cans.
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Perryman has a terrific link. Did you notice they are considering "allowing food marketers to make truthful, non-misleading label claims comparing foods of different portion sizes". This means the the government hasn't allowed free speech on labels since 1990 if you are comparing different portion sizes. You cannot compare your 12 oz soda to your competitor's 11.5 oz soda. IT IS ILLEGAL. This kind of government censorship, information suppression, and micro-management at the tax payer's expense drives me up the wall and costs everyone in knowledge and dollars.
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