People eat more when served larger portions. And portions have grown.
Researchers compared the current serving sizes of popular processed or fast foods to their original sizes. Among their findings:
At McDonald’s, a beef patty (1.6 oz. in 1955) now ranges from 1.6 to 8 oz., fries (2.4 oz. in 1955) range from 1.3 oz. (“kids”) to 5.9 oz. (“large”), and a soda (7 oz. in 1955) has ballooned to between 12 oz. (“extra small”) and 30 oz. (“large”).
Likewise, a bottle of Budweiser (7 oz. in 1976) now ranges from 7 to 40 oz., a bottle of Coca-Cola (6.5 oz. in 1916) ranges from 8 to 24 oz., and the size of a Nestlé Crunch bar (1.6 oz. in 1938) ranges from 1.6 to 4.4 oz.
What to do
Beware serving-size creep. Is “medium” your go-to? It may be yesterday’s “large”...and tomorrow’s “small.”
