Serving size

I recently received a HUGE container of snack-sized Hershey's candies from some dear friends in Southern California. I hope they won't take offense that I'm not about to eat all 12 pounds myself. I need to share the wealth (and the weight gain).

But I was intrigued by the food label that came packed in the tin. Like all the other food labels we've come to expect, the font size and contents were all standardized. This is an instant clue that the labeling is not voluntary, that it is mandated by some government regulation - which we've also come to expect more and more. The label was absolutely shocking in stating that one "serving" would represent 22% of my daily fat requirement. I'm thinking one or two pieces of the snack-sized candies - either a Hershey's kiss, a Reese's peanut butter cup, or a Mr. Crackle, for example. But it turns out that a "serving size" was a whopping 40g or 7 pieces of candy.

Of course that got me to wondering who picked 7 pieces of candy as the serving size. And as you have certainly figured out by now, it is the federal government. There is a complete table of "serving sizes" comprising 6 pages of fine print in the Code of Federal Regulations - Title 21 Part 101.12.

Fascinating reading, too. I learned the serving sizes for the following foods were:

spices 1/4 teaspoon
nuts /snacks 30g
hard candies (breath mints) 2g
hard candies (roll, dispenser ) 5g
other candies 40g
waffles 85g
pickles 30g
olives 15g
chewing gum 3g
salad toppers 7g

Can you imagine we're paying federal employees to think up, publish, and police this stuff!