Size matters: Package size influences recognition of serving size information

Victoria M. Baxter, Justin W. Andrushko, Ulrich Teucher

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

PURPOSE: To identify the impact of package size on an individual's use of serving size information. The hypothesis was that participants would make more serving size assumption errors on a nutrition facts table (NFT) interpretation task when assessing packages that appear as a single serving but contain multiple servings, compared with products that appear as a multi-serving and contain multiple servings.

METHODS: Sixty participants were randomized into 1 of 3 conditions (n = 20 each); products that appeared as a single serving and contain a single serving (SSSS), products that appeared as a single serving and contain multiple servings (SSMS), and products that both appear as a multi-serving and contain multiple servings (MSMS). All 3 conditions were tested on a NFT interpretation task while participants were being presented food items that were appropriate to their given condition.

RESULTS: Participants in the SSMS (9.55 ± 7.78) condition made significantly more serving size assumption errors than the SSSS (0.00 ± 0.00; P < 0.001) and MSMS (0.40 ± 0.75; P < 0.001) conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: Participants did not address serving size information when they perceived a product to be a single serving. This resulted in people misinterpreting nutritional and caloric content of foods that were single unit foods with multiple servings.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)200-202
Number of pages3
JournalCanadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume79
Issue number4
Early online date16 Jul 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Body Mass Index
  • Diet
  • Diet, Healthy
  • Energy Intake
  • Female
  • Food Labeling
  • Food Preferences
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Saskatchewan
  • Serving Size/psychology
  • Students
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Universities
  • Young Adult

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