Easier calorie counting and realistic serving sizes

For weight management, calories in vs. calories out is still the gold standard. The new label includes changes that help make your calorie counting more accurate:

• Big and bold calorie count. It's easier to find the number of calories per serving — just look for the largest number on the label.
• Realistic serving size. On the old Nutrition Facts label, serving size represented the amount of food that you probably should eat. For example, the serving size for ice cream used to be 1/2 cup. But Americans' portion sizes have increased over the years. So to help you calculate the number of calories you're actually consuming, the new label lists the serving size you are likely to eat. The new serving size for ice cream is 2/3 cup.
• No math required. Packages that seem like single servings — like a bottle of soda or a can of soup — usually contain more than one serving. Previously, you had to multiply the number of calories times the number of servings to know how many calories the whole package contained. On the new label, the nutrients are required to be labeled as one serving because people typically consume it in one sitting. In some cases, you may find a nutrition label with two columns: One column will display daily values for the recommended serving (like eight chips), and the other will display daily values for the entire bag of chips.