Nutrition Facts Labels should be straightforward and easy to read but they are not. The Food and Drug Administration explains the labels on their website. Good luck with understanding it all. In her book What to Eat, Marion Nestle discusses the labeling program along with a lot of other important food-related issues facing us all today. I find it enlightening and refer to the book regularly. Check it out.
Even though reading Nutrition Facts Labels can be daunting, I’m happy that packaged foods are required to have them. It makes DIY Diet planning relatively easy. For purposes of this diet my primary interest in the Nutrition Facts Label is to obtain the serving size and the calorie count on the prepackaged food I chose to eat. The rest will have to wait. You do have to pay attention to the calories per serving, the servings per package, and the size of each serving.
I was confused by the Nutrition Facts Label on a box of frozen Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese. The Nutrition Facts Label says the serving size is one cup and the servings per package is two. I measured one cup of product for my meal and discovered there was one cup of product in the package, not two. Was there a mistake I wondered? The calories were listed as 350 per serving. Did that mean 350 calories for each of two 1/2 cup servings? I was confused regarding whether the one cup of product was 350 calories or did I have to multiply the calories by two if I was eating the one cup of product since the package says there are two servings in it.
I emailed Customer Support at Nestlé Frozen Foods for an explanation. Customer Response Representative Heather Barnard provided me with the following information (Ref: N15078603):
"…FDA’s labeling regulations require all manufacturers to determine serving sizes use specific ‘reference amounts’ which differ by food category. The idea is that all similar foods will have similar serving sizes, based on the amount of food customarily consumed at a meal or eating occasion.
For Stouffer’s frozen products, serving sizes are based upon whether the food is considered a main dish or side dish. For example, our Mac and Cheese is considered (by the government) a main dish, and the serving size was determined to be one cup for purposes of a multi-serving package.
Regardless of the actual amount of meal in the package, the servings on the nutrition label are per serving. In this product, 1 serving equals 1 cup of the product, or about 225 grams of food, with the calories being 350 per serving. The nutritional panel will always indicate the information per serving…"
I can continue to eat Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese knowing I can eat a full cup of food at 350 calories per cup; or at least that’s what I think I understood! I decided to check their website to see what it gave for nutrition information there. There, on the label for the single serving box, the label says the serving size is 6 oz (remember, though, on the information from the company, the serving size is considered to be 225 grams or one cup). The calories are listed as 350 and label indicates there are two servings per box. I just checked the box of Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese that I have in my freezer and see the serving size indicated as 1 cup (225 grams). It, too, says 350 calories for a serving and 2 servings per box. The net weight of the box is 12 oz so that would indicate to me that the serving size contained in the box is 6 oz or that there are 1-1/2 servings of the standard 8-oz., or 225 grams of food. That is, unless the net weight comprises more than just the food and would also include the container. Despite all of this, I’m going to believe what the Customer Service Representative told me and eat a one cup serving of Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese figuring it is 350 calories I’m consuming. How can I believe one cup could be more than that?
Just for the fun of it I decided to check the Nutrition Facts Label on Amy’s Macaroni and Cheese entrées. Amy’s offers a 9 oz package and a 20 oz package. The 9 oz package states that the serving size is 9 oz at 410 calories. No confusion there. The 20 oz package states the serving size to be 8 oz at 360 calories and that the number of servings per package is two. That also seems very straightforward and the calories for the 8 oz serving size are right in the ballpark with Stouffer’s.
I also checked Weight Watcher’s Smart Ones Three Cheese Macaroni for the calorie count. Their serving size is listed as 255 grams (1 cup) at 300 calories. So I now feel quite comfortable that my one-cup serving of Stouffer’s Macaroni and Cheese is indeed 350 calories.
Thankfully, other foods don’t seem quite as confusing to me as the frozen macaroni and cheese products.
If anything about the Nutrition Fact Label confuses you, contact Customer Support at the product’s manufacturer. I can only believe they will be happy to assist you.
