A "portion" can be thought of as the amount of a specific food you choose to eat for dinner, snack, or other eating occasion. Portions, of course can be bigger or smaller than the recommended food servings.

A "serving" is a unit of measure used to describe the amount of food recommended from each food group. It is the amount of food listed on the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged food or the amount of food recommended in the Food Guide Pyramid and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

For example, 6-11 servings of whole grains are recommended daily. A recommended serving of whole grains would be 1 slice of bread or 1/2 cup of rice or pasta. People often confuse the recommendation to mean 6 to 11 portions with no regard to size. It is not 6 to 11 portions where one portion could mean a large bowl of pasta rather than ½ cup. Keep an eye on portion size to see how your portions compare with the recommended servings.

Source: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)