How manufacturer 'serving sizes' trick us into eating more junk

Pippa Hudson (in for Lester Kiewit on CapeTalk) speaks with Petronell Kruger, Programmes Manager at the Healthy living Alliance (HEALA)

Listen below:

Food product labels usually show suggested serving sizes, but are these reflective of what we actually eat?

Pippa Hudson carried out an experiment where she poured the amount of cereal she would normally serve herself and compared it to the recommended portion.

Generally, the recommended amount was much less than what she would normally eat.

According to Kruger, serving sizes on packaging in our country are not strictly regulated, meaning manufacturers can set any portion size they wish to make their product seem healthier.

Manufacturers often reduce their serving sizes to avoid having to disclose the high levels of sugar or salt in their products.

“There's actually an incentive for manufacturers to reduce that serving size as much as possible, because what the regulation says is that it shouldn't encourage super servings or servings that would have a negative impact on your health.”

- Petronell Kruger, Programmes Manager at the Healthy living Alliance 

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She says sugary cereals are particularly bad at this because the high sugar levels make the cereal less filling.

This means people will eat more than one portion and consume far more sugar and calories than they realise.

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