Food Labels & Microwaveable Popcorn

I’m angry about the razzle-dazzle practice of using irrelevant serving size information on Nutrition Facts panels. Specifically, I’m pissed off about the way the way some big manufacturers choose to label microwave popcorn. They market products in the best possible “lite” regardless of whether it misrepresents a product. The disingenuous practice of using deceitful yet legal labeling and marketing approaches needs to stop.

About Nutrition Facts Panels

A Nutrition Facts panel cannot empower consumers to make informed and healthful dietary choices if it contains obsolete information. It’s time to make serving size information consistent across similar types of products and realistic for today. The Food and Drug Administration recognizes the need for clearer information on food labels and reports that change is underway, according to their website. You can read more about the proposed food label changes at the FDA’s website FDA for consumers - Update - Proposed Changes.

In the late 1970s and the late 1980s surveys were conducted by the U.S. government to determine typical portion sizes consumed by Americans. The data from those surveys were used to establish guidelines for serving sizes on our food labels. 

• Serving size refers to the amount used to report the nutrition content of a product. It isn’t a recommendation about how much to eat.
• Portion size refers to how much you actually consume. Your portion size may or may not match-up with the serving size on a product.

It's now 2015 and we still rely on survey data from the 1970s and 1980s. Our portion sizes are larger and this discrepancy makes our serving sizes outdated. We often consume more of a product than is indicated by the serving size. When the serving size is disconnected from your portion size (what you actually consumed) it becomes harder to make sense of your diet and keep track of your overall calorie intake. Losing track of extra calories that you may consume through bigger portion sizes often contributes to weight gain.

I would like manufacturers to step-up and make changes now, even before new recommendations or guidelines are in place. As the FDA works towards making changes to help create labels that are more transparent and easier to identify with, I hope we will see more Nutrition Facts panels that do what they should to help people make informed choices.

Popcorn

Popcorn is a whole grain, high fiber, low calorie snack food. It is a healthy snack food when it is eaten in moderation and prepared with little or no salt and little or no fat. I like to flavor plain popcorn with seasonings instead of salt – garlic and pepper are my favorites – and replace butter with a small amount of oil like olive oil (a monounsaturated fat) or flaxseed oil (a polyunsaturated fat).

I used to make popcorn on the stove-top because we didn’t have a microwave. Our microwave went up in flames back in 2006 when I tried to use it to steam our first ever homegrown beet. Not my best moment but the cinder block duplex still stands even if the microwave doesn’t. I always make too much popcorn when I cook it on the stove-top and end up stuck with chewy leftovers for days. We have a microwave now and I'm rediscovering microwavable popcorn. I really like it. I like the smell, the flavor, and the crunch of freshly microwaved popcorn. I also enjoy reaching into the bag and pulling out little fluffs of popped corn. I can easily overindulge with it, so mini-bags work well for me. They are packaged as a single-serving item.

Are you kidding me with that serving size?

When I buy mini-bags of popcorn, I expect to eat an entire bag. Prior to this week, I also expected that all of the nutrition information on a mini-bag would reflect a serving size of 1 mini-bag. I was wrong. each manufacturer has flexibility to determine the serving size to use for Nutrition Facts panel of their popped corn. 

Mini-bags from generic brand.
Nutrition Facts panel reports information based on 1 serving -
the contents of an entire mini-bag.

Some products, like the generic brand Essential Everyday, report the nutrition information about 1 mini-bag of popped corn. I understand this because it relates directly to what people are likely to eat. It is, after all, a single serving product.

Essential Everyday
Nutrition Facts Panel

Other manufacturers are sneaky about how they report their nutrition information on the Nutrition Facts panel. For example, all of the Orville Redenbacher’s products I looked at use a serving size of 1 cup of popped popcorn for the Nutrition Facts panel. Who today (or ever) eats 1 cup of popcorn?  

Mini-bag of lime and salt popcorn.
The contents of the popped bag were emptied into the bowl (left). 
One cup of popped corn (25 total calories and 10 calories of fat) are depicted in the measuring cup. The mini-bag of lime and salt flavored Skinnygirl popcorn yields about 6 cups of popped corn. The 25 total calories with 10 calories from fat in 1 serving equates to about 150 calories with 60 calories from in real-life 1 mini-bag.

The Skinnygirl lime and salt mini-bag microwave popcorn is a member of the Orville Redenbacher's family. According to the package, a box of 10 single-serving mini-bags, a mini-bag will yield about 6 cups of popcorn when it is fully cooked. 

The Nutrition Facts panel for the popped corn is based on a serving size of 1 cup. 

Skinnygirl lime and salt
Nutrition Facts panel
Black on red (I find this hard to read)

Why? Why use a 1 cup serving size when you know that a single serving mini-bag is most likely going to be eaten by 1 person during the course of a single snack time? 
Isn't that the purpose of the product?

I think there are 2 reasons why

1. Using 1 cup as the serving size allows the company to say that a single serving provides only 25 total calories and 10 fat calories even though an entire mini-bag, the amount a person is anticipated to consume, provides about 150 total calories and about 60 fat calories. Orville Redenbacher's and Skinnygirl are manipulating consumers by assuming people will stop reading when they reach "25 calories" and "Skinnygirl." It's not a bad product, but many people will get more calories than they expect when they eat this product because of deceitful labeling. Unacceptable.
2. I looked at 3 different Orville Redenbacher’s products (Skinnygirl, Naturals, and Smartpop!) and they all reported nutrition information with the same serving size - 1 cup of popped corn. I assume that this practice encourages consumers to readily compare products within the Orville Redenbacher's family. The serving size is unrealistic and irrelevant to what people eat. Unacceptable. 

Popcorn, Snacks & Food Labels

When I seek out a snack, I decide what I want to eat based on my hunger, appetite, mood, and other food and calorie choices that day. When I choose popcorn, it is not because of the brand. It is because I want a snack that offers whole grain, fiber, maybe something familiar. I pick popcorn because it is a snack food I enjoy for about 100-120 calories. A mini-bag of popped corn can be a great snack that sometimes checks off all of my boxes.

I want simple, easy, and straightforward snacks. When I select a food in a single-serving package, I reasonably expect the nutrition information to directly reflect what I eat. I'm irritated if I have to convert the information on the Nutrition Facts panel of a single-serving product into practical information that I can use. After that kind of effort, the manufacturer should pay me to eat their product. 

Final Thoughts

Food labels are useful when they provide practical information. The FDA is moving towards change, but it will take time. As a consumer, you can question food companies when you see serving sizes that don't make sense. Hanging on to old, and usually smaller, serving sizes often makes products look better than they actually are based on realistic serving sizes.

Have you found any misleading or confusing food labels with serving sizes that are out of touch with reality? If you have, email me an image of it along the name of the product (you can email me at nutritiontuesdays@gmail.com). I will check it out and post it at www.mardiparelman.com.