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

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.

Keywords: dietary guidelines; food labelling; food legislation; portion size; serving size.

Figure 1

Distribution of products within each food category from the Five Food Groups according to the similarity of their declared serving size to the corresponding Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) standard serve. Note: the category ‘Breakfast cereal, ready to eat’ excludes children’s cereals and muesli/granola.

Figure 2

Distribution of products within each food category according to the similarity of their declared serving size to the corresponding typical (median) portion size consumed by Australian adults, for males (A) and females (B). Note: the category ‘Breakfast cereal, ready to eat’ excludes children’s cereals and muesli/granola.