Unregulated serving sizes on the Canadian nutrition facts table – an invitation for manufacturer manipulations

Chan, Jessica Yin Man; Scourboutakos, Mary J.; L’Abbé, Mary R.

doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4362-0

BMC Public Health

Table 2 Comparison between the median calories currently listed on the Nutrition Facts Table (NFT) and the calories per reference amount

From: Unregulated serving sizes on the Canadian nutrition facts table – an invitation for manufacturer manipulations

Food group	Number	Median Calories (kcal)/manufacturer stated serving size on NFT (g)	Median Calories (kcal)/reference amount (g)	p*	Minimum calories (kcal)/serving size on NFT† (g)	Maximum calories (kcal)/serving size on NFT^a (g)
Bakery Products
1. Bread	183	130	127	0.011	60	230
2. Bagels, tea biscuits, scones etc.	227	150	147	0.001	40	350
7. Coffee cakes, doughnuts, danishes etc.	89	200	215	0.913	60	520
8. Cookies, graham wafers	294	140	141	0.999	30	250
9. Crackers, hard bread sticks etc.	238	90	90	na	60	247
14. Croutons	53	35	30	0.001	25	110
15. French toast, pancakes, and waffles	93	140	167	0.001^‡	90	230
17. Grain-based bars with filling and coating	85	110	123	0.215	90	230
18. Rice cakes and corn cakes	62	60	64	0.028^‡	30	230
19. Pies, tarts, cobblers, turnovers	94	305	321	0.001^‡	80	430
Cereals and Other Grain Products
28. Hot breakfast cereals	57	150	155	0.127	90	210
30. Breakfast cereals without fruit or nuts	85	120	116	0.607	80	130
31. Breakfast cereals with fruit and nuts	145	210	214	0.022^‡	90	270
34. Grains, such as rice or barley	85	160	160	0.349	110	360
35. Pastas without sauce	383	300	302	0.007^‡	110	342
Dairy Products and Substitutes
39. Cheese	380	90	100	0.001^‡	20	190
43. Quark, fresh cheese and fresh dairy desserts	63	90	286	0.001^‡	60	190
49. Plant-based beverages	138	120	130	0.001^‡	30	230
52. Yogurt	95	100	140	0.001^‡	35	260
Desserts
53. Ice cream, ice milk, frozen yogurt, sherbet	282	140	140	na	60	340
54. Dairy desserts, frozen	97	180	250	0.001	40	360
Fats and Oils
64. Butter, margarine, shortening, lard	91	70	70	na	25	90
65. Vegetable oil	105	80	80	0.001^§	80	130
67. Dressings for salad	227	45	90	0.001^‡	10	160
Marine and Fresh Water Animals
72. Marine and fresh water animals	132	170	223	0.001^‡	65	540
73. Marine and fresh water animals, canned	116	90	71	0.001	25	240
Fruits and Fruit Juices
75. Fruit, fresh, canned or frozen	167	80	91	0.001^‡	30	220
77. Dried fruit	69	120	122	0.831	40	270
83. Juices, nectars and fruit drinks	553	120	125	0.001^‡	10	200
Legumes
86. Beans, peas and lentils	78	340	350	0.001^‡	35	420
Meat, Poultry, Their Products and Substitutes
90. Luncheon meats	107	60	61	0.001^‡	30	170
91. Sausages	102	150	142	0.03	40	370
93. Patties, cutlettes, chopettes etc.	103	230	211	0.001	70	550
96. Meat and poultry with sauce	106	190	252	0.001^‡	90	410
Miscellaneous category
99. Bread crumbs and batter mixes	151	150	118	0.001	30	350
Combination Dishes
107. Measurable	366	275	284	0.957	110	700
108. Not measurable	304	290	309	0.907	80	660
109. Hor d’oeuvres	104	155	124	0.055	70	452
Nuts and Seeds
110. Nuts and seeds	67	260	190	0.001	80	380
Sauces, Dips, Gravies and Condiments
120. Sauces for dipping	117	60	60	na	10	170
121. Dips	92	60	63	0.907	15	170
122. Major main entree sauce	145	70	70	0.001^§	20	270
123. Minor main entree sauce	102	20	25	0.001^‡	10	310
124. Major condiments	100	20	20	na	5	70
125. Minor condiments	48	5	5	0.248	0	80
Snacks
126. Chips, pretzels, popcorn, extruded snacks	375	240	250	0.001^‡	40	330
127. Nuts or seeds for use as snacks	88	280	290	0.021^‡	160	440
Sugars and Sweets
137. Jams, jellies, marmalades etc.	145	50	50	0.479	5	80
141. Syrups	50	120	220	0.001^‡	30	468
Vegetables
150. Pickles	54	10	9	0.025	3	70

^a NFT = Nutrition Facts Table, the mandatory nutrition labelling required on all packaged food products
*because data was non-normal, p-values reflect significance according to the Sign Test
^‡indicates categories where the median calories per reference amount is significantly greater than the median calories per stated serving
^§In two instances the p-value is significant but there is no difference in the median, this is due to the fact that signficance was determined according to the sign-test

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