Send this page to someone via email Canada’s long-anticipated revised food guide was released Tuesday morning, and it has some big changes from previous guidance on healthy eating. As hinted at in public consultations and draft documents, the new guide does away with the four food groups and advice on the number of servings to eat each day – something even Health Canada says people found confusing in the last food guide. In consultations, Health Canada heard that the recommendations to eat a particular number of portions of a particular size were too complicated, said Dr. Hasan Hutchinson, director general of the Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada, which prepared the new guidelines. READ MORE: Canada’s new food guide trims down on dairy — should you? “It wasn’t particularly helpful to incorporate into their everyday lives,” Hutchinson said. Story continues below advertisement “We are taking a new approach that we think is going to be very helpful.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are taking a new approach that we think is going to be very helpful." Instead of specific serving recommendations, the new guide presents a number of general guidelines to eat by. Here’s a look at some of them. Eat a variety of healthy foods each day Specifically, the new food guide suggests eating plenty of vegetables and fruits, choosing whole grains, and eating “protein foods.” When picking proteins, the food guide suggests eating plant-based proteins, like legumes, beans, and tofu more often than those from animal sources, like dairy, eggs, meat and fish. View image in full screen An image from the website for Canada’s new food guide. Health Canada “Milk and alternatives” and “meat and alternatives” were two of the four food groups in the last food guide, but this time, they were lumped together. Dairy definitely isn’t missing, as Health Canada provides lower-fat milk, yogurt, kefir and cheese as examples of protein food. Lean red meat, like game, is also mentioned. They’re just less special now, as just two of many protein choices. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Health Minister Ginette Petitpas-Taylor unveiled Canada’s long-anticipated revised food guide on Wednesday morning. 2:09 Health Minister unveils Canada’s new food guide Health Minister unveils Canada’s new food guide – Jan 22, 2019 When it comes to drinks, the food guide recommends making water your beverage of choice. This is partly about preventing dehydration, but also partly about limiting sugar intake, according to Health Canada officials. If you’re drinking more water, you’re probably drinking less juice and pop. “Water supports health and prevents dehydration, without adding more calories to the diet,” Hutchinson said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Water supports health and prevents dehydration, without adding more calories to the diet," Hutchinson said. One of the “at-a-glance” documents in the new food guide shows a plate, with one half covered in vegetables and fruit, one quarter protein, and one quarter whole grains, which Hutchinson calls a “wonderful” message. “It’s not about portion, per se, but perhaps about proportion,” he said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's not about portion, per se, but perhaps about proportion," he said. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Canada’s Food Guide is getting a major overhaul, and putting a big spotlight on healthier eating. As Alicia Draus reports, the new changes have been long awaited. 2:01 Canada’s Food Guide receives long-awaited overhaul Canada’s Food Guide receives long-awaited overhaul – Jan 22, 2019 Avoid processed foods and beverages that are high in sodium, sugar and saturated fat These foods “undermine healthy eating” according to the food guide, so should generally be avoided. Some examples of these kinds of foods include processed meats like hot dogs, deep-fried food, sugary breakfast cereal and sugary drinks. A recent report from Statistics Canada found that sugary drinks were the top source of sugar intake for Canadians, though overall sugar consumption has been decreasing. Story continues below advertisement Instead of pop and candy, most dietary sugar should come from whole fruits and vegetables and unsweetened milk, the food guide says. The food guide also notes that alcohol is high in calories with “little to no nutritive value” and is associated with a variety of health risks like an increased risk of several cancers, hypertension and liver disease. They also want Canadians to use food labels to judge how healthy or unhealthy a product is, and to be aware of food marketing and its possible impact on their purchase choices. As part of the overall healthy eating strategy, Health Canada proposed new food labels in 2018 that would make it easier to spot foods high in sodium, sugar and saturated fat. Cook more often and eat meals with others The new food guide emphasizes home cooking as a practical way to support healthy eating. “Over time, Canadian households have significantly increased the proportion of their food budget spent on highly processed products,” says the guide, and Canadian households also spend about 30 per cent of their food budget on meals and snacks purchased outside the home. Story continues below advertisement These foods are associated with higher sugar, sodium, calories and saturated fat, they say – many of the things they want Canadians to avoid. Cooking at home also helps pass cooking skills on to children, the guide’s authors write, as does sharing meals with others. Be mindful of your eating habits – but enjoy your food Health Canada recommends that people take time to eat, and notice when they’re hungry and when they’re full. They also want people to enjoy their food. “Culture and food traditions can be part of healthy eating.”<doc-sep>Open this photo in gallery Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor unveils Canada's new Food Guide on Jan. 22, 2019 in Montreal. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press With the release of a new Canada’s Food Guide, Ottawa has dramatically overhauled the advice it gives to Canadians on how to eat, including an explicit endorsement of plant-based diets at the expense of meat and dairy. The guide is one of the federal government’s most-requested publications, with its influence felt in doctor’s offices, school cafeterias, hospitals and home kitchens across the country. And for the past four decades, the guide has looked more or less the same, telling Canadians to eat a diet of specific servings from four food groups. But the new guide unveiled on Tuesday – the first major update in more than 12 years – radically upends this formula. It no longer has separate “meat” and “dairy” categories – or four distinct food groups at all. Also gone are serving sizes and numbers. Instead, Health Canada has chosen a simpler approach: The new guide shows an image of a plate, half of it covered with fruits and vegetables. The other half is divided into whole grains and “proteins,” a new category that contains meat, dairy and plant-based foods such as chickpeas and tofu. Story continues below advertisement Among the proteins, the guide says, “consume plant-based more often." This shift toward plant-based foods comes despite intense lobbying from the meat and dairy industries, Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said in an interview with The Globe and Mail on Tuesday. “The only thing I can say is that these many groups have made their positions known, and it is their right to do so,” she said. In the past, health advocates have said previous versions of the food guide showed the influence of powerful food lobbies, most notably those representing dairy, meat and juice. Health Canada’s attempts to insulate its officials this time did not stop industry groups from trying to shape the latest revision. But such efforts appear to have failed. In addition to eliminating meat and dairy as food groups, the guide no longer advises people to drink juice as a source of fruit. Ms. Petitpas Taylor said she met with a variety of groups before the release of the new guide – including the beef and dairy industries, which made clear their concerns that their products would lose their prominence in the revision. She also said these industry groups were given a preview of the guide. “It was my role as Health Minister to meet with all stakeholders," she said. "But in no way did my meetings influence the individuals creating Canada’s Food Guide.” Story continues below advertisement The Health Canada officials who created the new guide – many of them nutrition experts and researchers – did not meet with lobby groups. “In no way did we want to see a perceived influence, nor did we want industry to decide what the final food guide would look like," she said. The minister said she also met with representatives of the juice industry. Last year, The Globe reported on extensive efforts by beverage producers to press Health Canada to keep juice in the guide as a recommended source of fruit. But not only does the new guide no longer contain no such recommendation, it warns about the sugar in juice. “We want to make sure Canadians have access to the best information with the food guide – the best information based on the best science out there, and science that’s not influenced by industry,” Ms. Petitpas Taylor said. Even so, a dairy industry group took issue on Tuesday with Health Canada’s science. “Dairy Farmers of Canada remains concerned that the updated food guide does not reflect the most recent and mounting scientific evidence available,” its statement read. Story continues below advertisement DFC spokesperson Lucie Boileau said it lobbied and met with the Health Minister only because industry was “shut out” of Health Canada’s consultations. Health Canada did not meet directly with industry groups, although the department invited them to submit comments as part of a general public consultation. “We have taken every opportunity afforded to us to present this data that speaks to the evidence-based research on the health benefits of dairy,” Ms. Boileau said, adding that such information “may not have been considered otherwise.” Lee Finell, a manager of health education with the Dairy Farmers of Canada, emphasized that milk is a good source of nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin D. And while other products have some of these nutrients – such as calcium in tofu and leafy greens, for example – she said those foods sometimes contain less concentrated amounts. “These are really important nutrients, and Canadians already aren’t getting enough of them,” she said. The meat industry, meanwhile, denied that the guide recommends eating less meat. “I think it’s a misinterpretation,” said Mary Ann Binnie, a nutrition consultant with the Canadian Meat Council. “They’re encouraging the plant-based protein, but not at the expense of meat." Story continues below advertisement In a statement, the council added that “all proteins aren’t created equal. Plant and animal proteins vary by the unique nutrient packages they offer and also by their calorie contribution.” Health groups lined up to applaud the new guide. Nathalie Savoie, chief executive of Dietitians of Canada, described the document as “bold and courageous.” Yves Savoie, CEO of Heart and Stroke Foundation, said he hopes the new guide will go a long way toward addressing unhealthy eating, which is linked with cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. And a statement from Community Food Centres Canada applauded in particular the fact that this new guide appears unaffected by industry lobbying. “CFCC applauds Health Canada for committing to a process free from food industry influence,” the group said in a statement – “and for putting public health ahead of industry profit.”<doc-sep>
Meat and dairy are out. Plants and water are in. Those appear to be the biggest takeaways from the newest version of Canada’s Food Guide, which was released Tuesday by Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor. “It puts more focus on what, when and how we eat, and less on food groups and servings. It gives clear, concise advice that everyone can easily apply to their everyday lives,” Petitpas Taylor said at the guide’s unveiling event in Montreal. One of the most notable changes is the elimination of the four traditional food groups, which had been part of the federal government’s nutrition advice, in one form or another, since 1942. Whole grains, vegetables and fruits are still listed as an integral part of a healthy diet, but the traditional focus on the likes of meat and milk is gone in favour of the broader category of proteins. There is a specific recommendation that Canadians consume plant-based proteins “more often” and cut down on their intake of processed meats and saturated fats, which can contribute to cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Recommended proteins in the guide include “lentils, lean meats, fish, unsweetened milk and fortified soy beverages.” Meat and alternatives had previously been a separate food group, as had milk and alternatives. The new guide also places a heavy emphasis on water, saying it should be the “beverage of choice” for Canadians. Coffee, tea, lower-fat milk and plant-based beverages are listed as other options, though less preferred. Fruit juices are not recommended because of their sugar content. The previous edition of the food guide had suggested 100 per cent fruit juice as a way of achieving an optimal amount of fruit. Reducing consumption of sugars, saturated fats and processed foods was a key goal for the government in the development of the new guide. Beyond specific foods Also gone from the guide is specific governmental advice on how much food to consume. Health Canada officials say most Canadians found the portion size guidance confusing. “Trying to have exact amounts for each person is difficult,” Jess Haines, an associate professor of applied nutrition at the University of Guelph, told CTVNews.ca. The previous version of the guide contained separate dietary advice for six different age groups, half of which were further broken down by sex. Even these did not take into account different body types and lifestyles. A document to be released later this year will include suggestions on healthy eating patterns, but those suggestions will be targeted toward people creating meal plans for hospitals, prisons and similar settings, and not the general public. The new guide goes beyond simple nutritional advice, adding information on healthy eating habits such as being aware that food producers may attempt to influence consumer habits through marketing programs, sharing food with other people and cooking at home with raw ingredients. “Canadians are eating out more often and eating a lot more prepared foods, and those foods are typically higher in saturated fats, salt and sugar,” Haines said. Although not necessarily top-of-mind for many people, the food guide is considered to play a key role in shaping Canadian nutrition habits. Its recommendations help influence what food is served in public buildings and are promoted by the health-care and education sectors. Many of the changes announced Tuesday were based on similar concepts already in use in such countries as Belgium, Sweden and Brazil. Industry and professional reaction The new guide received immediate acclaim from various groups of medical and health professionals, including the Canadian Medical Association, Heart & Stroke and Dietitians of Canada. Dietitians of Canada CEO Nathalie Savoie said she was happy to see a recommendation that publicly funded institutions align their food offerings with the guide’s advice. “When it’s easier to purchase vegetables, fruit, whole grains and protein foods than it is to buy highly [processed] foods and beverages, Canadians will make healthier choices,” she said. Canada Beef spokesperson Joyce Parslow said her organization was pleased with the food guide’s suggested meal approach of 50 per cent fruits and vegetables, 25 per cent whole grains and 25 per cent proteins. “We’re very supportive of plant-based eating, and we do need to eat more fruits and vegetables,” she told CTV News Channel, adding that she hoped Canadians would continue to consume the “complete protein options” of beef and other meats. A less positive reaction came from the Dairy Farmers of Canada advocacy group, which said it was “concerned” by the new food guide’s lesser emphasis on milk.