Trivia of the day

[spacealien_vamp]

Japanese Oreos come in bags of 18 cookies. (This information is displayed right on the package. If you look at the image in the link, the text reads: "Contains 2 packs of 9 cookies.")

US Oreos come in packages of what I estimate to be 45 cookies. (The web site doesn't tell you this. It only says it contains 18 ounces, however many cookies that may be. I looked up on a nutrition site that one serving = three cookies, and Nabisco's nutrition info says there are "about 15" servings per container. 3 × 15 = 45)

Make of this trivia what you will.

Personally, I prefer the bag that tells me how many cookies are inside, rather than how much the cookies weigh. But maybe that's just me.

This message brought to you thanks to my sudden craving for Oreos (after spotting them at the supermarket), which I hadn't eaten in well over two (three?) years.

Comments

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

Are Oreos on American shelves packaged in 3 columns? (Just wondering about the odd number.)

I'm surprised to discover that cookie manufacturers aren't required to specify on the package about how many cookies constitute a serving (in addition to providing the weight, which is going to be more accurate for calculating calories). In fact, this page from the FDA indicates it should:

"The serving size of products that come in discrete units, such as cookies, candy bars, and sliced products, is the number of whole units that most closely approximates the reference amount. Cookies are an example. Under the 'bakery products' category, cookies have a reference amount of 30 g. The household measure closest to that amount is the number of cookies that comes closest to weighing 30 g. Thus, the serving size on the label of a package of cookies in which each cookie weighs 13 g would read '2 cookies (26 g).'"

I am not avoiding doing work. Okay, I am.

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

Are Oreos on American shelves packaged in 3 columns?

It's been so long since I've seen them, I don't remember. It's possible, though, that the package doesn't include an even number of servings. So maybe there are 44 or 46 cookies....?

I'm surprised to discover that cookie manufacturers aren't required to specify on the package about how many cookies constitute a serving

That would certainly be nice to know.

...Though I think the idea of three cookies as a serving size is rather silly. Who made that up? In what universe is that realistic? I eat small portions in general, and even I can eat 4-5 cookies in a sitting. Don't even get me started on the nonsense of a "serving" of potato chips...

Of course, in my mind, "serving" = "helping," that is, the amount one would reasonably serve oneself on one plate (or in one bowl) at a meal. Whereas the "official" definitions of servings tend to be along the lines of an amount that would take 2 or 3 combined to make a "helping." (And here I'm not even talking about overeating, I mean a serving of cereal should be a bowl of cereal, that only seems logical.)

[finabair.livejournal.com]

I don't have any Oreos to check ('cuz of their being chocolate) but if memory serves me they're either 3 or 4 rows in a package. Of course, it's been a good 15 years since I bought any, so...yah, the memory's not much help.

But when I was growing up, when I was allowed a snack, three cookies was always the number I was allowed. So that one doesn't seem as odd to me as most serving sizes do.

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

But when I was growing up, when I was allowed a snack, three cookies was always the number I was allowed.

The thing I find fascinating about this weight specification for cookie serving size is that it is so dependent on the density of the cookie. On a lark, I looked up nutrition information, and it seems that for another Nabisco brand, the serving size for Chunky Chips Ahoy is one cookie (http://www.dietfacts.com/html/nutrition-facts/chips-ahoy-chunky-chocolate-chip-cookies-with-chocolate-chunks-3700.htm). (Nabisco version (http://www.nabiscoworld.com/./Brands/ProductInformation.aspx?BrandKey=chipsahoy&Site=1&Product=4400001564)) I don't think Chips Ahoy cookies are substantially larger than Oreos, but they are probably somewhat denser. (What I can't figure out is, if one cookie is 17g, why don't they make a serving two cookies, which would be about the same weight as the Oreo serving size...?)

The whole serving size thing seems full of mystery.

[bentleywg.livejournal.com]

I don't have any Oreos here, but I do have an (alas, empty) box of Girl Scout thin mints.

Net Weight 10 oz. (284 g)
Serving Size 4 cookies (32 g)
Servings Per Container about 9

[devimustang0929.livejournal.com]

I am positive that Oreos come in rows of three back in the states. Can't say for sure how many are in each row, though, since I don't have a habit of counting the junk food I sometimes inhale. But if it *is* in rows of three, why can't the serving numbers just be 15? or 16? or whatever...why about? How does that work when the number is already divisible by 3?

Maybe they're leaving room for machine malfunctions when all the cookies might not make it into a package before being sealed.

The world may never know....