Food Standards Agency Explores the Role of Portion Sizes in Our Diet

The workshop was chaired by Dr Susan Jebb and explored the role of portion size and energy intake and its relationship to weight gain and considered potential areas for action.

20/06/08 The UK 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 is accompanied by a report looking at changes in the portion size of everyday foods since the early 1990s.

The Agency convened an expert workshop of nutritionists and academics in April to inform the FSA’s understanding of the issues relating to portion size. The workshop was chaired by Dr Susan Jebb, Head of Nutrition and Health Research at the Medical Research Council, and explored the role of portion size and energy intake and its relationship to weight gain and considered potential areas for action.

The 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. This early work found:

* 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 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 (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

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 example 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 evolving. ‘We welcome the recommendations of the academic workshop which lend further support to the Agency’s programme of work. We will be discussing our next steps and what further actions are needed in this area more fully in the autumn with industry, public health and consumer groups.

‘Future work in this area will need to be practical, and make a positive contribution to help people eat a more balanced diet.’

The academic workshop was attended by Susan Jebb, Chair (MRC – Human Nutrition Research), Barbara Livingstone (University of Ulster), Janet Cade (University of Leeds), Marion Hetherington (Glasgow Caledonian University), Annie Anderson (University of Dundee), Wendy Wrieden (University of Aberdeen), Ashley Adamson (University of Newcastle), Carolyn Summerbell (University of Teesside) and Sue Baic (University of Bristol).

The workshop discussed UK and international evidence, and included the independent report commissioned by the Agency. The data collated in this report was taken from published literature and surveys undertaken since the 1990s, food packaging, websites of food manufacturers, catering chains and retailers, and analyses from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS).