portion sizes
Food Standards Agency explores the role of
portion sizes in our diet
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the workshop which lend further support to the Agency’s pro-
conclusions of an academic workshop that considered
gramme of work. We will be discussing our next steps and
the available evidence of the relationship between
what further actions are needed in this area more fully in the
portion size and people’s energy intakes, weight gain
autumn with industry, public health and consumer groups.
and diet. This is accompanied by a report looking at
‘Future work in this area will need to be practical, and
changes in the portion size of everyday foods since the
make a positive contribution to help people eat a more
early 1990s.
balanced diet.’
The Agency convened an expert workshop of nutrition-
The academic workshop was attended by Susan Jebb,
ists and academics in April to inform the FSA’s understand-
Chair (MRC – Human Nutrition Research), Barbara Living-
ing of the issues relating to portion size. The workshop was
stone (University of Ulster), Janet Cade (University of Leeds),
chaired by Dr Susan Jebb, Head of Nutrition and Health Re-
Marion Hetherington (Glasgow Caledonian University),
search at the Medical Research Council, and explored the
Annie Anderson (University of Dundee), Wendy Wrieden
role of portion size and energy intake and its relationship to
(University of Aberdeen), Ashley Adamson (University of
weight gain and considered potential areas for action.
Newcastle), Carolyn Summerbell (University of Teesside)
The workshop discussed available UK and international
and Sue Baic (University of Bristol).
evidence on portion size in the UK, and considered the
The workshop discussed UK and international evidence,
findings of an independent report commissioned by the
and included the independent report commissioned by
Agency. This early work found:
the Agency. The data collated in this report was taken
• a wider range of portion sizes is now available, but there
from published literature and surveys undertaken since
are few consistent trends within different food catego-
the 1990s, food packaging, websites of food manufactur-
ries
ers, catering chains and retailers, and analyses from the
• larger portion size packs are available for many, often
National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS).
premium products, including luxury cookies, American
The FSA’s strategic plan can be viewed at: www.food.
muffins, luxury ice cream bars, sausages, premium crisps,
gov.uk/aboutus/publications/busreps/strategicplan
and chocolate confectionery
For information and advice on healthy eating visit the FSA’s
• smaller pack sizes are also available for many products
consumer advice website www.eatwell.gov.uk
(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 academic workshop discussed which foods possible
consumer advice and industry action on portion size might
focus on, recommending that future work should cover:
• key foods that contribute to saturated fat intakes (includ-
ing biscuits, buns, cakes, pastries, fruit pies, confection-
ery, dairy products and spreads, meat products and
savoury snacks)
• single serve or impulse purchases of sweet and savoury
snacks
• sugary drinks and other beverages

The academic workshop 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 ex-
ample as a main meal or as an accompaniment to a dish.
The FSA will discuss these research findings and possible
next steps with stakeholders at a forum to be held in the
early autumn.
Corinne Vaughan, Deputy Head of Nutrition at the Food
Standards Agency, said: ‘The evidence relating to portion
size, energy intake and weight gain is complex and evolv-
ing. ‘We welcome the recommendations of the academic
NHDmag.com Aug/Sep ‘08 - issue 37 29
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