# Does anyone actually divide up chef boyardee cans into 2 servings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725 "2010-05-25T18:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/21 "2010-05-25T22:09:48Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Most canned stuff is listed as two servings. It’s to fool people with calorie counts. You look at the back and say “Oh only 140 calories per serving” it’s not that big of a can so chances are that this one can is a single serving in your eyes… but that colorie count is based on there somehow being 2 or more servings in that can. Yeah. It’s mostly about trickery, I think. I wish we (in the USA) used the same nutrition labeling system that they used (probably still do) in the Netherlands when I lived there. They simply give the nutrition information per 100 grams across the board-- no matter if its candy, soup, snacks, or potatoes. It’s up to you to know about how many hundreds of grams you are going to consume, and there is no opportunity for manufacturers to dick around with serving size in order to confuse people into thinking they are eating healthily. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/22 "2010-05-25T22:27:53Z")
I tried Googling to find out how they come up with the serving sizes on food packages, and found these articles: [How do food companies determine “serving size”?](http://www.slate.com/id/2240844) [F.D.A. Weighs Update To Standard Serving Sizes](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/business/06portion.html) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/23 "2010-05-25T22:28:39Z")
I never realized that cans had 2 servings… I feel a bit cheated. Back when I was heavier I used to count calories. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/24 "2010-05-26T02:29:06Z")
Mmmm…Chef Boyardee Ravioli, poured on a plate and nuked, sprinkled with Kraft Parmesan Cheese and the extra sauce sopped up with white bread… Yeah, guilty. And I eat the whole can, too. Not the 10 or 12 ounce can (or whatever it is), but the bigger one. We’re having ravioli Beef and macaroni Ravioli’s really neat Ravioli’s fun to eat, hurray! (That’s all I remember…) ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/25 "2010-05-27T03:04:37Z")
I ate a can of Chef Raveolli (yes, I’m too lazy to look up the spelling) for dinner, with nuked veggies on the side. I got through about 60% of it. Can’t say I find it to be a quality meal, though. It’s sitting a little weird with me. Guess that’s why I don’t eat it very often. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/26 "2010-05-27T03:38:05Z")
Do they still make that white, worm-like “macaroni and cheese” product? I haven’t bought a can of Boyardee in 20-25 years (:eek: I just did the math and it’s been _that_ long?!), so I’m quite out of the loop. I remember that stuff being a bit sharp, but once you got over the somewhat alien-like nature of it, it was pretty great. ---
**Author:** ![SleepyDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@SleepyDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SleepyDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/27 "2010-05-28T03:46:13Z")
No, the whole can goes in the trash. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/28 "2010-05-28T06:45:38Z")
Folks, there are only two proper ways to eat Boyardee. First-- a bowl of the O’s, with meatballs, in a corningware bowl covered with saran wrap, heated up in the new microwave by mom circa 1979. Second-- Alone with a plastic fork, out of the can, over the sink and in a hurry 'cause you are late for work. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/29 "2010-05-28T07:39:25Z")
Chef Boyardee’s [website](http://www.chefboyardee.com/index.jsp) does not give easy access to nutritional information. The first hit I get with [nutritional information](http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/chef-boyardee/spaghetti-u0026-meatballs) shows 36% of the RDA for sodium and 20% of the saturated fat. The serving portion is 1 can or 216 gms which is clearly not the size I ate when I was a kid. A 14.5 oz. can is twice that so watch out for that sodium. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/30 "2010-05-28T15:57:04Z")
Serving sizes (and the sodium) is my beef with a lot of foods, too. My husband and I are counting calories, and there are far too many times I’m sitting down with a piece of paper and a calculator, trying to turn the serving size and calories on the label into something that relates to real life. My big peeve is when there is a natural serving size (like individually wrapped things), and they give the serving size in something OTHER than one individually wrapped portion. Now you’re just being spiteful. In a more related note, beefaroni was my husband’s last meal before going into the hospital for emergency gall bladder surgery (I’ll leave the relation between the two for your imagination). He made sure to get back on that horse when he got out, because he wasn’t going to go through life afraid to eat dinner with the Chef. He’s very dedicated to his processed, canned food. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/31 "2010-05-28T16:10:45Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > First-- a bowl of the O’s, with meatballs, in a corningware bowl covered with saran wrap, heated up in the new microwave by mom circa 1979. Wow, that takes me back. Including the corningware. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/32 "2010-05-28T16:19:14Z")
My mom’s Corningware always went on top of the stove. Parents didn’t get a microwave until I was out of the house for three years. '88ish or thereabouts- ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/33 "2010-05-28T16:27:04Z")
When we were kids my sister begged our mother for Chef Boyardee for weeks, despite my repeated warnings that she’ll regret it. Finally mom broke down and bought her a can, brought it home, heated it up and served it to my excited sister. She took one bite and immediately threw up. She started listening to me after that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725/34 "2010-05-28T18:39:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Every once in a great while I get a craving for the cheese ravioli with meatballs. That’s a great big rog. This kind of food makes no emotional demands on you. It just lies there, simple, uncomplicated, unpretentious, asking nothing but to be allowed to comfort you for a few minutes… to coat your insides with a slippery substance of indeterminate composition. It’s a food that gives but does not ask anything in return, not even chewing. It’s unconditional love in a can. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-divide-up-chef-boyardee-cans-into-2-servings/540725.md?page=1)