I read label content regularly and wanted to share a most interesting statistic; it seems the majority of cereals have between 100-150 calories per serving.   What coincidence.  Yet, read further and you'll note that a serving for some cereals is 6 ounces, and did I mention that was without milk?   Based on the current manufacturer's recommended serving sizes, I may never need a bowl again; just a few tablespoons to set me on my day and think of all the water and detergent saved on running my dishwasher!  Likewise, a single [serving] Pop-Tart can't possibly keep a student's appetite at bay until lunch and I will only briefly mention  the annoying commercial with cartoon Moms in their size 2 clothes high-fiving their cartoon sons as if they had just made a great frosting-based food choice.   Hoping my readers can enlighten me:  Is "The Frosting Group" at the top of the Food Pyramid or the bottom?  So, while  it is a welcome change that the FDA recently announced it will prod manufacturers to place realistic serving sizes on their packages, and adjust the nutritional values accordingly, that does not excuse us from exercising common sense.

I have been doubling the daily values on all my packaged products for years, since that is what actually fills up my cereal bowl but still leaves room for the milk,  or 4 cookies instead of the serving size of 2 that the manufacturer cops to, along with a large glass of skim milk for dunking,   a realistic sized afternoon snack.   I have taught my children to do likewise, and they caught on early, however that doesn't mean they always make healthy choices, they are just aware by how much they've exceeded the displayed number, which they, and we,  know is  "bogus".    And that's the point, reminding ourselves and teaching our kids, the truth in this numbers game, regardless of manufacturers' illusion.