What is a Food Serving?
A Food Guide Serving is simply a reference amount. It helps you understand how much food is
recommended every day from each of the four food groups. In some cases, a Food Guide
Serving may be close to what you eat, such as an apple. In other cases, such as rice or pasta,
you may serve yourself more than one Food Guide Serving.
Look at the examples below to find out how much food is equal to one Food Guide Serving.
Examples of one Food Guide Serving are:
Vegetables and Fruit
125 mL (½ cup) fresh, frozen or canned
vegetable or fruit or 100% juice
250 mL (1 cup) leafy raw vegetables or
salad
1 piece of fruit
Grain Products
1 slice (35 g) bread or ½ bagel (45 g)
½ pita (35 g) or ½ tortilla (35 g)
125 mL (½ cup) cooked rice, pasta, or couscous
30 g cold cereal or 175 mL (¾ cup) hot cereal
Milk and Alternatives
250 mL (1 cup) milk or fortified soy beverage
175 g (¾ cup) yogurt
50 g (1 ½ oz.) cheese
Meat and Alternatives
75 g (2 ½ oz.)/125 mL (½ cup) cooked fish, shellfish, poultry or
lean meat
175 mL (¾ cup) cooked beans
2 eggs
30 mL (2 Tbsp) peanut butter
Dark Green and Orange Vegetables
Asparagus
125 mL, ½ cup, 6 spears
Beans, green
125 mL, ½ cup
Bok choy/Chinese cabbage (Choi sum)
125 mL, ½ cup cooked
Broccoli
125 mL, ½ cup
Brussels sprouts
125 mL, ½ cup, 4 sprouts
Carrots
125 mL, ½ cup, 1 large
Chard
125 mL, ½ cup
Dandelion greens
250 mL, 1 cup raw
Edamame (soy beans)
125 mL, ½ cup
Endive
250 mL, 1cup
Mesclun mix
250 mL, 1 cup raw
Mustard greens
250 mL, 1 cup raw
Okra
125 mL, ½ cup
Peas
125 mL, ½ cup
Pepper, sweet,
green
125 mL, ½ cup, ½ medium
Pumpkin
125 mL, ½ cup
Seaweed
125 mL, ½ cup
Snow peas
125 mL, ½ cup
Spinach
250 mL, 1 cup – raw
Fiddleheads
125 mL, ½ cup
Squash
125 mL, ½ cup
Kale/collards
250 mL, 1 cup raw
Sweet potato
125 mL, ½ cup
Leeks
125 mL, ½ cup, ½ leek
Lettuce, romaine
250 mL, 1 cup raw
Yam
125 mL, ½ cup
Zucchini
125 mL, ½ cup
More Vegetables and Fruits
Some orange coloured fruit can be substituted for an orange vegetable. See the fruit
marked with an asterisks (*)
Apple
1 medium
Cherries
Apricot, fresh *
3 fruits
Corn
1 ear, 125 mL,
½ cup
Lettuce
(example:
iceberg or
butterhead)
250 mL, 1 cup raw
Avocado
½ fruit
Cucumber
125 mL, ½ cup
Lychee
10 fruits
Bamboo shoots
125 mL, ½ cup
Dried fruit
60 mL, 1/4 cup
Mango *
125 mL, ½ cup, ½
fruit
Banana
1 medium
Eggplant
125 mL, ½ cup
Beans, yellow
125 mL, ½ cup
Beets
125 mL, ½ cup
Berries
125 mL, ½ cup
Bitter melon
125 mL, ½ cup, ½ pod
Cabbage
125 mL, ½ cup
20
Fig, fresh
2 medium
Fruit juice
125 mL, ½ cup
Grapefruit
½ fruit
Grapes
20 fruits
Cantaloupe *
125 mL, ½ cup
Guava
125 mL, ½ cup, 1
fruit
Cauliflower
125 mL, ½ cup,
4 flowerets
Honeydew
125 mL, ½ cup
Celery
1 medium stalk
Kiwi
1 large fruit
Chayote
125 mL, ½ cup
Kohlrabi
125 mL, ½ cup
Mixed
vegetables
125 mL, ½ cup
Mushrooms
125 mL, ½ cup
Nectarine *
1 fruit
Orange
1 medium
Papaya *
½ fruit
Peach *
1 medium
Pear
1 medium
Peppers, bell
125 mL, ½ cup, ½
medium
Pineapple
125 mL, ½ cup, 1
slice
1 fruit