Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Super Size my ASS please

Anyone know what a portion size is?

I know I do, but that's because I read and learn and you know, take an interest in my self and well being.

It would appear, according to this article: Portion Distortion: How Big Is a Serving?, that most of the US of A has been duped by the always honest and caring FDA and had no idea what an actual portion size should be.

According to the report, most nutritionists would advise that the best way to determine a proper amount of food would be to read the Nutrition Facts label and measure it out.

And maybe this would work, IF portion sizes were actually correct.

Over the past 20 years, average portion sizes of all foods, including hamburgers, French fries, soft drinks, and salty snacks have increased, in some cases by more than 50 percent. That means because the standard serving size shown on a package label determines all the other nutritional values, the calorie counts are often inaccurate—and thus, misleading.

A study by Tufts University recently showed significant discrepancies between the actual caloric content and the information provided. On average, caloric content of was under-reported by 18% and upwards of almost 200%.

“If people use published calorie contents for weight control, discrepancies of this magnitude could result in weight gain of many pounds a year,” said senior author Dr. Susan B. Roberts, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

It is noted that the discrepancies are due to FDA oversights of Nutrition Fact information labels and that current FDA rules tend to be more lenient towards under reporting calories than over reporting them.
However, it would seem that the FDA are attempting to fix the system:

“We are actively looking at serving size and evaluating what steps we need to take,” said Barbara O. Schneeman.

Sadly, this wont be the first time the FDA has talked about re-examining serving size recommendations. Back in 2005 they made the same claims but that was never accomplished.

Here's hoping that this time around they keep to their word ...

Hey, I'm trying to be optimistic here, give me some slack :)

No comments: