Estimating Serving Sizes for Healthier and Unhealthier Versions of Food According to Canada's Food Guide

Canada's Food Guide (CFG) defines food serving sizes and recommends a specific number of servings from each of the 4 food groups. However, there is no differentiation in serving sizes for different versions of foods that may differ in nutritional value.

Participants (n = 20) estimated serving sizes of "healthier" and "unhealthier" versions of milk, bread, cereal, potatoes, chicken, fish, and juice and reported the amount normally consumed in 1 sitting.

Participants estimated unhealthier servings of cereal and juice to be smaller than healthier servings, but estimated unhealthier servings of chicken to be larger than healthier versions (P < 0.05). There were no differences for bread, milk, potatoes, and fish. Accordingly, estimated servings of juice (P < 0.01) had more calories than the unhealthier orange drink. There were no caloric differences for cereal (P = 0.12), but an estimated serving of bran flakes had more fat and fibre than frosted flakes cereal.

In contrast with CFG, which does not account for different versions of food, certain unhealthier foods were estimated to be smaller or larger than the healthier versions. However, both healthy and unhealthy serving sizes still tended to be larger than what is prescribed in CFG. Thus, better education or revision of serving sizes in future editions of CFG may warrant consideration.