What Is the Original Food Guide Pyramid?

Bread, grains and cereals formed the biggest group of the original food pyramid.

The original Food Guide Pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992. It was designed to provide Americans with suggested nutritional guidelines about the types and amounts of food to eat each day.

Function

The illustration became a well-recognized, visual educational tool. It was taught in schools and used on the food labels of a large number of products. The pyramid was split horizontally into four levels and six groups to represent the recommended daily intake of each food group.

Features

The original pyramid recommended consuming six to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice or pasta, two to four servings of fruit, three to five servings of vegetables, two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, dried beans, eggs or nuts, two to three servings of milk, yogurt or cheese and a small amount of fats, oils or sweets.

Considerations

In 2005, the USDA launched a new food guide system after the original pyramid was criticized for being misleading, based on unreliable scientific evidence and its inability to reflect the major advances in American's understanding of the link between diet and health.

References

• United States Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion: Food Guide Pyramid
• Harvard School of Public Health: Food Pyramids: What Should you Really Eat?
• Every Diet: Food Guide Pyramid (1992)