[tromp]

Fortunately, here in the Netherlands (and most parts of Europe I suspect), ingredients are specified as amounts per 100g rather than some arbitrary serving size. This makes it very easy to compare products, for instance to see which one has the lowest percentage of sugars. In the US I had a much harder time comparing cereals for sugar content, as every one would have a different serving size.

[sebazzz]

Per 100g or 100ml is mandatory, but it is allowed to show per serving (for instance a hand of M&Ms).

[baal80spam]

> for instance a hand of M&Ms

An excellent example of "serving" stupidity. How big a hand? Child's hand? Adult's hand? Bodybuilder's? Woman? Man? Full? Kind of full?

I have absolutely no idea what a "serving of cheese" constitutes.

[sebazzz]

True, but it is mentioned what a serving is. For instance: "Portion (40g)"

[philsnow]

Sure, but the serving size can vary, even between different package sizes of the exact same product, and certainly between different manufacturers.

Overall, humans are dumb and can't (or won't) do math in their heads. Consider the stupid thing with the failed 1/3 lb burger positioned in the market against the 1/4 lb burger ( https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/06/17/third-pound-burger-fr... ).

If one product says "5g fat / serving [serving size: 40g]" and another says "4g fat / serving [serving size: 30g]", many many people will think that the second one has lower fat content.

If these were normalized to 100g, it would be clear that the first has 5/40*100 = 12.5g of fat whereas the second has 4/30*100 = 13.3g of fat.

[makeset]

Right, not a chance with all those bodybuilders training for hand hypertrophy.

[guyzyl]

A hand is a really bad to measure things, it's good no other arbitrarily sized body parts are used for exact measurements in the US.