Iowa Department of Education

• Portion control helps to ensure that meals will meet USDA requirements
• Customers will be satisfied with consistent servings
• Reduces waste and leftover food
• Minimizes the possibility of running short of food during meal service
• Helps to effectively control costs Provides a guide for the ordering of food

Tools of the trade for portion control

Portion scale - institutional type
Scoops or dishers corresponding to planned serving sizes
Ladles and/or spoodles corresponding to planned serving sizes
Portion control chart for food service staff

Steps for Effective Portion Control:

Menu Planning
Menus should be planned first to meet USDA requirements for Food Based plans or Nu-Menus plans. The portion size will help to determine if these requirements are met. Refer to the School Breakfast and School Lunch Meal Patterns and to the Grain-Bread Chart to make certain that components are met on the Food Based plans.

Nu-Menus are based on meeting nutrition standards. Adjust portion sizes as needed to meet these targets.

Food Production Plans
Food Production Plans should include the portion size and the number of planned servings.

Purchasing
Purchasing is based on the planned portion size and the planned number of servings. Refer to the Food Buying Guide for number of purchase units requested.
Child Nutrition (CN) labels on some purchased foods will indicate how much of each component is included per serving, if Food Based Plans are followed.

Food Production
Use standardized recipes for food production. A good standardized recipe will include the exact amount of ingredients to use for the number of planned servings. The serving size should be written on the recipe. Weigh and measure carefully for consistent yields.

Food Transport
Count or measure servings of food sent to transport sites to minimize waste and avoid shortages of food.

Meal Service
It is the responsibility of the food service manager to communicate to servers which portion utensils to use on the line. Servers should use the correct utensil and measure portions accurately. Serving a scant portion results in less calories and nutrition offered to the student; over-serving results in possible shortages and higher food costs. (See examples.)

Examples of Poor Portion Control

Example No. 1
Using the USDA recipe of Macaroni and Cheese for 100 servings, the portion size indicated is 2/3 cup (#6 scoop), with 4 gallons total quantity of product.
If the server rounds the scoop to serve 3/4 cup, then there will be a shortage of more than 13 servings of the original 2/3 cup measure planned.

Example No. 2
At Lincoln School, 1/2 cup canned fruit is offered on the line every day. 300 students eat almost daily and 250 usually take fruit. The server rounds up the portion about 2 tablespoons per lunch every day. Over the school year the extra food cost amounts to approximately $1,530.
Average cost of a case of fruit:
Applesauce $12.75 Cost per TB=.01 cents
Fruit Cocktail $25.25 Cost per TB=.02 cents
Peaches $24.00 Cost per TB=.02 cents
Approximately 1200 Tablespoons per case:
Average cost per TB= .017
Cost per 2 TB= .034
Daily extra cost=.034 X 250=$8.50
Extra cost for 180 school days=$1,530

Portion Control Capacity Guide Chart