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What does serving size mean on a food label?

Serving size is the amount the label uses for every number it prints. The FDA says all the nutrient amounts, including calories, refer to the size of the serving, so the number of servings you eat decides what you actually take in.

Action level Worth checking

Why you are seeing it
It is at the top of the Nutrition Facts label, with the servings per container.
Why it matters
Every other number on the label depends on it, so a label read without the serving size can be off by a factor of two or more.
What should I do?
  • Compare the serving size with what you actually ate.
  • Multiply the label by your servings, or enter them in the Nutrition Label Calculator.
  • Check servings per container before assuming the package is one serving.
A common misunderstanding
A serving is the amount the label is written for. It is not a recommendation of how much to eat.

The serving is the unit of the label

The FDA page on the label says all the nutrient amounts on the label, including calories, refer to the size of the serving, and that the number of servings you eat determines the calories you actually eat.

The label also shows the servings per container, so a package may hold more than one serving even when it looks like a single portion.

A simple example

A serving and a half

A label shows 150 calories per serving and 480 mg of sodium per serving.

Eating 1.5 servings is 150 x 1.5 = 225 calories and 480 x 1.5 = 720 mg of sodium.

If the container holds 2.5 servings, finishing it is 375 calories.

Scaling the label to what you ate

  • Multiply each value on the label by the number of servings you ate.
  • Half a serving is 0.5 and a serving and a half is 1.5.
  • Do the same for the %DV: two servings is double the percent.

Try these tools

  • Nutrition Label CalculatorEnter the numbers on a food label and the servings you ate to see what you actually ate. Also multiplies a label by any number of servings.
  • Recipe Nutrition Per ServingEnter the totals for a whole recipe and how many servings it makes to see the nutrition in one serving.
  • Daily Value CalculatorTurn an amount of a nutrient into a percent of its FDA Daily Value, with the FDA rule for low and high.

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