Avani Abraham | Contributor
Featured Image: After years of research, Canada revamps the food guide by taking a less prescriptive approach. | Courtesy of Pexels
The latest version of Canada’s Food Guide was released earlier this month after three years of research and development. The Food Guide, in one version or another, has been around for more than 75 years, providing healthy eating information to Canadians, and serving as a guideline for nutrition programs and policies across the country.
In the 2019 version, several radical changes to the previous guide, which was released in 2007, have been implemented. The guide now focuses on delivering three major guidelines regarding what to eat regularly, what to avoid, and the importance of cooking meals at home.
There are two things notably missing from this latest edition—portion sizes, and food groups. Previously, the 2007 edition contained recommended serving sizes specific to each age group and sex, including things such as seven to eight cups of fruits and vegetables a day for females aged 19 to 50, and three to four cups of milk for boys and girls aged nine to 13.
The 2019 Food Guide abandons these strict portion guidelines in favour of a ‘proportion over portion’ ideology, where the goal is to have a well-balanced plate, much like the image on the cover of the new food guide. The ideal plate depicted on the cover is half vegetables and fruits, a quarter proteins, and a quarter whole-grain carbohydrates, as well as a glass of water as the recommended drink. This also means that the classic four-food-group rainbow that graced the cover of the 2007 edition has been reduced to three groups; grains, protein, and produce.
As for recommendations of foods to avoid or limit, the new guide warns of the increased risk of type-two diabetes and cardiovascular disease associated with sugary drinks and processed foods. The new version also contains guidelines for food skills, such as reminding people to cook often, eat meals together, and be aware of food labelling.
This revamped food guide has also been created with the intention of being more culturally inclusive in its expansion of what classifies as a source of protein; going beyond the traditional chicken, egg, and beef recommendations to include plant-based proteins such as lentils and nuts.
The guide has also attempted to recognize that fresh produce is not something all Canadians have access to, as they are limited by affordability and proximity to fresh food stores. With that in mind, the guide suggests buying frozen or canned vegetables and fruits when possible as an alternative, and also provides some tips for eating healthy on a budget.
One major reason the new food guide is being applauded is for the unbiased process of its formulation. Canada’s food guides have notoriously been influenced by lobbying agricultural industries (such as the dairy and beef industries) so that certain foods were prioritized. This raised valid concerns that the food guide was not prioritizing the health of Canadians like it claimed.
In recognition of these concerns, Health Canada purposefully prevented officials from meeting with industry lobbyists in order to prevent potential conflicts of interest, and prepared the 2019 guide after revision of only highly reliable scientific reports from respected authorities, such as the World Health Organization, the World Cancer Research Fund International and the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. This uninfluenced development of the guide should provide Canadians with more confidence in adhering to the guidelines as a way to improve their overall health.
