Nutrition Label Now Requires Advanced Mathematics Degree To Calculate Actual Serving Size

A consumer attempting to calculate the nutritional content of a snack she was eating has discovered that the task requires a level of mathematical proficiency not typically associated with eating chips on a couch. Sarah Integer, 29, purchased a bag of artisanal root vegetable chips from a specialty grocery store. The nutrition label indicated that the bag contained "about 2.7 servings" of "about 11 chips" each, with each serving containing 140 calories, 9 grams of fat, 15 grams of carbohydrates, and 1 gram of protein. Integer ate approximately 8 chips before pausing to check the label. "I needed to know how many calories I'd eaten," Integer said. "So I divided 8 by 11 to get the fraction of a serving, which is 0.727 repeating. Then I multiplied that by 140 calories, which gives me 101.8 calories. But the label says 'about 11 chips,' which means the serving size is approximate, so my calculation has an unknown margin of error built into the denominator." Integer, who holds a bachelor's degree in English literature, described the experience as "the first time since high school that I've been confronted with fractions in a non-hypothetical context." The "about 2.7 servings" disclosure presents additional challenges. A full bag contains approximately 29.7 chips, a number that Integer notes "is not a quantity anyone has ever intentionally consumed. You eat 29 or 30 chips. You do not eat 29.7 chips. What is seven-tenths of a chip?" The FDA requires that serving sizes reflect "the amount customarily consumed" by Americans. A spokesperson for the chip manufacturer defended the 11-chip serving size by noting that it was determined through consumer research. "We asked 200 people how many chips they eat in a single sitting," the spokesperson said. "The average was 34. We used 11 because 34 made the calorie count look alarming." Integer has since purchased a food scale, which she says has "not simplified the process but has added a sense of scientific legitimacy to my snacking."