What is a Meal?

T

tadah!!

New member
I just opened a box of instant mashed potatoes. It says on the box,
"Package contains four Meals".

Would someone define the word "MEAL".
I dont consider instant mashed potatoes to be a "meal".
Most of the time they use the word "Servings". That makes much more
sense, even though I often wonder how they determine what a "serving"
is. Some people will eat a teaspoon of something while another will
eat a whole plate full. But using the word "Meal" just seems wrong.

Why cant they just say the box contains 6 cups of mashed potatoes
after they are prepared.

I often wonder if there is a reason that food is labeled in such
useless ways. Is this to deceive people into thinking they'll get
more than they actually get, or do they just hire incompetent and
illiterate foreigners to type up the labels on these boxes?
 
wrote in message
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Well, I have made a meal of them by adding cheese, onion and bacon. Works
for me!

But you are right, the word "meal" seems wrong. Perhaps the word "serving"
would have been better.

Just curious. What brand was this?
 
"spamtrap1888" wrote in message
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On Feb 16, 5:44 pm, [email protected] wrote:

Was it McCain's instant, from Canada?

Canadians think boxed mac 'n' cheese is a dinner (Kraft Dinner), so a
lump of instant mashed potatoes is likely a Canadian meal.

I was really stumped the first time I heard the term "Kraft Dinner". To me
Kraft is a brand.
 
On Feb 16, 8:44?pm, [email protected] wrote:

Maybe they mean the box makes enough mashed potatoes to go with four
meals. So one night it's meatloaf and mashed potatoes. The next
night it's fried chicken and mashed potatoes. The third night it's
salisbury steak and mashed potatoes. The fourth night it's pork chops
and mashed potatoes.
 
On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:44:25 -0600, [email protected] wrote:


All you need to do is read the label.

You must have bought a box that contains 4 pouches. Each pouch is a
meal. The pouches are then defined as so many "servings" - 4 is
standard. Labels in the US state what constitutes a serving in terms
of individual pieces, ounces or cups. Betty Crocker's pouches of
Creamy Butter mashed potatoes is labeled this way:
http://oi55.tinypic.com/33cnoet.jpg


--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 06:52:45 -0000, "Ophelia"
wrote:


I don't. I think the OP didn't give us all the facts and at the very
least, didn't look carefully at the box or the label before asking the
question. Boxes of mashed potatoes contain meal sized portions or
pouches of the product.

The pouches are then counted as 4 servings each. 1 pouch = 4
servings; 2 pouches = 8 servings; 4 pouches = 16 servings
http://oi55.tinypic.com/33cnoet.jpg

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On Feb 16, 8:52?pm, spamtrap1888 wrote:

A baby seal walks into a bar. The bartender says 'What'll it be?'
The seal replies; 'Anything. As long as it's not a Canadian Club.'
LOL LMFAO
 
On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:44:25 -0600 in rec.food.cooking,
[email protected] wrote,

I think the USDA defines how much a "serving" is for different kinds
of food. I could be wrong about who it is. But the idea is that
different vendors are supposed to use the same serving size for
their "per serving" nutritional info. so you can compare them.

The problem is, as just about everybody has noticed, most of those
government "serving" sizes have no resemblance to reality. The same
people who are telling you to eat fourteen servings of vegetables
per day are telling you that a serving is three green beans. (That's
a joke, but not all that far off.)

I hope that by using "Meal" they are trying to help you with your
meal planning, while complying with labeling regulations over on the
side of the box somewhere. Beats me.

By the way, you will always find "number of servings per container"
near the top of the nutrition panel.
 
On Feb 17, 10:04?am, David Harmon wrote:


Let me take advantage of this sentence.

It always fascinates me when, say, a 20 ounce Coke from a vending
machine announces it contains 2.5 servings. Do they assume a couple
with a young child bought it to share? Or that the buyer will merely
drink eight ounces before screwing the cap back on and placing it into
his backpack refrigerator?
 
On Feb 17, 1:16?pm, spamtrap1888 wrote:

Well, I'm sitting here with a 12-ounce Coke can (diet) that says one
can is a serving.

How many calories in a serving on that 20-ounce coke? Very close
to 100, isn't it? 100 calories is a magic number; people will eat
practically anything that's 100 calories or less. Coke is counting
on them looking at the calories per serving and not noticing that
the bottle is 2.5 servings.

Cindy Hamilton
 
On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:47:46 -0800, "Julie Bove"
wrote:


Apparently they exist... I guess 4 pouches is the large economy size.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
"Cindy Hamilton" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On Feb 17, 1:16 pm, spamtrap1888 wrote:

Well, I'm sitting here with a 12-ounce Coke can (diet) that says one
can is a serving.

How many calories in a serving on that 20-ounce coke? Very close
to 100, isn't it? 100 calories is a magic number; people will eat
practically anything that's 100 calories or less. Coke is counting
on them looking at the calories per serving and not noticing that
the bottle is 2.5 servings.

Cindy Hamilton

==========

I hate when they do that, like putting a small bag of nuts out there for 90
calories a serving and then say there are 5 servings or something equally
ridiculous.

Cheri
 
David Harmon wrote:

I wish. European labels seem to use 100 calories as a standard serving
so it works there, except a serving of lettuce has to be huge.

On labels in the US the manufacturer basically makes up arbitrary
serving sizes the make the numbers look good. One thing they do is pick
the serving size so just under 0.5 grams of carb or fat gets rounded
down to zero. he label then says zero carbs or zero fat. It's nasty
when this is done with transfats.

Cream in the US is like that. 6 grams of carb per cup. Divide the
serving size down to a tablespoon and it's just below 0.5. As a result
plenty of newby low carbers claim cream is free of carbs. Similar
examples for fat should be easy to find.
 
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