Workshop report on portion size
This Food Standards Agency workshop took place on 15 April 2008 and was attended by academic experts in the field of portion size and obesity research.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the conclusions of an academic workshop that considered the available evidence of the relationship between portion size and people's energy intakes, weight gain and diet.
This workshop discussed available UK and international evidence on portion size in the UK, and considered the findings of an independent report commissioned by the Agency which looked at changes in the portion size of everyday foods since the early 1990s. It reported that:
- A wider range of portion sizes is now available, but there are few consistent trends within different food categories
- Larger portion size packs are available for many, often premium products, including luxury cookies, American muffins, luxury ice cream bars, sausages, premium crisps, and chocolate confectionery
- Smaller pack sizes are also available for many products (e.g. chocolate confectionery, savoury snacks, soft drinks, ice cream cones and bars) but usually as part of multi-packs from larger retailers
- The portion sizes of traditional and standard products, such as biscuits and cakes, have generally remained fairly constant, and only a few foods have increased in size, e.g., individual ready meals
- Only limited data was available for takeaway foods, and this showed that some but not all food items have increased in size compared with the early 1990s
The output from the workshop was recommendations on key foods that require portion size action, these included:
- Key foods that contribute to saturated fat intakes (including biscuits, buns, cakes, pastries, fruit pies, confectionery, dairy products and spreads, meat products and savoury snacks)
- Single serve or impulse purchases of sweet and savoury snacks
- Sugary drinks and other beverages
They also concluded that it would not be practical to focus on ready meals in the first instance because of the different ways people eat them, for example as a main meal or as an accompaniment to a dish.
After this workshop the FSA plan further consultation with consumers and industry on this topic.
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- Type > news and communications > briefing paper > report
- Subject > energy balance > energy intake > portion size
- Subject > food
- Subject > health care > health improvement
- Coverage > UK
- Subject > food culture > food marketing
- Subject > fats > saturated fat
- Subject > foods high in energy > foods high in sugar > confectionary
- Subject > processed food > ready meals
- PublicationDate > 2008
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