Canada's New Food Guide Ditches the Dairy Group and Tells Canadians to Eat Plant Protein

Canada has unveiled its first major food guide overhaul in more than 12 years. Separate "meat" and "dairy" groups are gone, and Canadians are now told that among protein foods they should "consume plant-based more often".

Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor launched the new guide in Montreal today. It's one of the federal government's most-requested publications, used in doctors' offices, school cafeterias, hospitals and home kitchens across the country.

For four decades the guide told Canadians to eat set servings from four food groups. As The Globe and Mail reports, the new version throws that out. There are no more serving sizes and no more four groups. Instead there's a plate: half fruit and vegetables, with the other half split between whole grains and "proteins", a new category where milk and meat sit alongside chickpeas and tofu. Juice is no longer counted as fruit either.

The minister told The Globe and Mail the shift came despite intense lobbying from the meat and dairy industries, and that the experts who wrote the guide did not meet lobby groups at all.

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.

She said it was her role as Health Minister to meet with all stakeholders, "but in no way did my meetings influence the individuals creating Canada's Food Guide".

Dairy Farmers of Canada said it "remains concerned that the updated food guide does not reflect the most recent and mounting scientific evidence available". We're sure it does.

This is the final version of the draft we reported on back in 2017, and it's great to see Health Canada hold its nerve. VegNews calls it the guide officially pushing plants instead of meat.

The science backs Health Canada all the way. Research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found plant proteins are significantly more heart-healthy than animal proteins, and a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found plant protein builds muscle just as well. There's no nutrient in dairy you can't get from plants.

Canada joins a growing list. Last week 37 scientists behind the EAT-Lancet report said the world must halve red meat, and The Economist named 2019 the year of the vegan. Before that, the German Environment Ministry banned meat at official functions, Danish politicians went vegan to tackle climate change, and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists began recommending a plant-based diet.

Progress! The future is looking brighter.