A new evolution of Canada’s Food Guide

As we begin to feel those cooler autumn breezes and marvel at the beautiful display of fall colours that we witness annually as part of the natural beauty of our country, another palette of colours comes to mind: the new Canada’s Food Guide . For health care professionals, the food guide has always been an integral part of how we practise our profession, particularly within our health promotion efforts. Interestingly, the first-ever Canada’s Food Guide was published in 1942 as Canada’s Official Food Rules and, from that early publication, there have been multiple revisions over the years, the last one published in 2007. Thus, the new version released in January 2019 was long overdue!

The new Canada’s Food Guide is completely revised and has evolved based on an extensive review of scientific evidence and consultation. The new guidelines were developed by scientific nutritional experts who used current evidence from multiple systematic reviews and purposefully excluded any information from industry-commissioned reports that could lead to conflicts of interest. The approach is more holistic as the guide talks about the context of eating, moving beyond just nutrients and food. The objectives of the new guidelines are “to promote healthy eating and overall nutritional well-being, and support improvements to the Canadian food environment.”¹

The guide is meant to assist Canadians in making healthier food choices, with an emphasis on incorporating healthy eating habits based on where, why, when, and how one eats. The approach to healthy eating has been simplified thanks to the use of a plate as a visual representation. Instead of focusing on serving numbers and portion sizes, the guide uses proportions for only 3 food categories: vegetables and fruits (half of the plate); protein foods (one-quarter of the plate); and whole-grain foods (one-quarter of the plate). In addition, water is now the recommended beverage of choice. The guide also encourages Canadians to examine how they make food choices by being mindful of their eating habits, planning and cooking meals more often, incorporating cultural traditions, enjoying food, and eating meals with others.

Salme E Lavigne

Christina Lengyel

There are 3 specific sections to the guidelines:

1. Nutritious foods are the foundation for healthy eating. This guideline emphasizes the regular consumption of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and protein foods, particularly more plant-based proteins such as legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, fortified soy beverages, fish, shellfish, eggs, poultry, lean red meat including wild game, lower fat milk, yogourt, and kefir, and cheeses lower in fat and sodium.¹

2. Processed or prepared foods and beverages that contribute to excess sodium, free sugars, or saturated fat undermine healthy eating and should not be consumed regularly . Foods that contain mostly unsaturated fat should replace foods that contain mostly saturated fat, water should be the beverage of choice, and alcohol should be consumed with caution.¹

3. Food skills are needed to navigate the complex food environment and support healthy eating . This guideline focuses on the importance of skills such as preparing and cooking nutritious foods as a practical way of supporting healthy eating versus eating in restaurants or buying prepared foods. Using food labels is also emphasized to help consumers make more informed food choices.¹

Canada’s Food Guide is presented as being better for the environment as it emphasizes consuming proteins from plant-based sources, such as nuts, beans, and lentils, rather than always choosing animal products. This concept also aligns with the Planetary Health Diet created by a team of more than 30 world-leading scientists on the EAT– Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems.² The Planetary Health Diet focuses not only on what one eats, but also on what foods are nutritious and environmentally sustainable, thus very much focused on plant-based foods.³

Given this divergence from what previous food guides have encompassed, Health Canada has developed a document specifically for health professionals and policy makers to better understand the recommendations.¹ In addition to the new guide, there is a mobile-friendly version that will be continually updated with resources including recipes. There are also numerous resources available from Health Canada for downloading and sharing, such as images, videos, posters, fact sheets, postcards, recipes, and the report itself. All can be found at http://www.canada.ca/FoodGuide/

Interestingly, these guidelines correspond well with oral health recommendations as there is an emphasis on sugar reduction in the diet. In fact, the document for health professionals mentions the link between high sugar intake and dental caries, and makes note of the high sugar content of fruit juices. We urge all of you to access Canada’s Dietary Guidelines for Health Professionals and Policy Makers ,¹ connect with a registered dietitian, and take advantage of all of the available resources to create a plan for incorporating these new recommendations into your dental hygiene practices. Happy eating!

A healthy diet is a solution to many of our health care problems. It’s the most important solution. — John Mackey