A container is something that contains, or holds something else. In the world of food, that seems like it should be pretty clear. But what if there’s a sort of container holding more containers? Consumerist reader Joe had to do a bit of puzzling and math to make heads or tails of a package of Trader Joe’s hummus, which consisted of a cardboard sleeve holding two snack packs of spread and pita chips.

He wrote in with the above example, asking: “You tell me, does a serving equate to one container, or are there two servings per container?”

Good question. The nutrition facts suffer from a lack of word variety, stating: “Serv. size: 1 container” (4 oz/113g)” but then below that: “Servings per Container 2.”

We were just as befuddled as Ed, at first reading. He did some sleuthing and math, two things that go very well together, and noted that on the front of the container/sleeve it read “8 oz,” which means that each of the snack pack/containers are 4 oz, a pretty normal serving size. And also there probably are not 640 calories in a hummus “snack,” unless said bowl is very large.

Sure, one container is lowercase and the other Container is uppercase, but wouldn’t it be better to just pick a different word and avoid any confusion in the first place? Perhaps, bowl, package, sleeve… a thesaurus is a wonderful tool, Trader Joe’s. Just sayin’.

 

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