servings

Servings are standardized units used to express the amount of food or drink on nutrition labels and in dietary guidance. A serving is a defined portion intended to facilitate comparison across products and to help estimate nutrient intake. It is not a recommendation of how much a person should eat, but a unit of measurement for labeling and planning.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration sets serving sizes as reference amounts customarily consumed (RACC), and these are shown on the Nutrition Facts label as the serving size. The label also lists the number of servings per container and provides nutrients per serving and percent daily values based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Containers that hold more than one serving may have calories and nutrients per container that differ from per-serving values.

Other regions use similar concepts with local conventions. In the European Union, labeling uses defined portions for each product, while Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other jurisdictions publish guidelines or require serving or portion sizes on packaging. The exact definitions and reference diets vary by country.

Utilization and limitations: Serving sizes aid product comparison, meal planning, and nutrient tracking, but discrepancies between labeled servings and actual portions can mislead. Consumer understanding improves when nutrition information is interpreted in context of total intake and typical portion sizes, rather than relying on a single serving value.