ewg skin deep FDA

 The current FDA regulations were set in 1993. They say labels for the most common type of cereals must use a reference serving size of 30 grams, or about one ounce––what the average American ate in 1977. (Nutrition Facts labels also list serving sizes in a common household measure, such as cups or biscuits.) But anyone who has ever measured out a 3/4-cup standard serving of Honey Nut Cheerios or similar cereals knows that the serving sizes listed on nutrition tables are absurdly small. In the real world, most people fill their bowls with well over one of those miniscule servings.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, show that today an average bowl of cereal in America is 39 grams, or a little over a cup.⁴ According to NHANES data from 2001 to 2006, it’s even more for children and adolescents. Their average serving ranges from 42 to 62 grams⁵––up to twice as high as the FDA’s current standard serving.⁶

That means that in the real world, a child who ate one average-sized bowl a day of one of the cereals most marketed to kids would consume 5.6 pounds to 9.3 pounds more sugar a year than the current labels could lead parents to believe (Appendix Table 1).

Even after the new standard takes effect, a big gap will remain between the sugar in an FDA-defined serving and what kids actually eat according to NHANES data (Table 1).