The food pyramid began in Sweden in 1974 as a budget guide: with prices rising, a food educator put cheap staples such as bread, potatoes and milk at the base. In the US, the agriculture department withdrew a planned pyramid in 1991 after meat and dairy groups objected to where their products sat. Anna Stubbendorff traces how designs were shaped by politics and commerce as much as by nutrition research.

The pyramids were meant to guide shopping and cooking, not to prove that following them prevents disease. Two rival new versions now compete. For sceptics it is a useful case study: even official advice that looks like settled science can carry the fingerprints of budgets and lobbyists.

Source: Anna Stubbendorff, The Conversation (2026-11-09)
https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-food-pyramid-and-its-many-false-starts-295690

Summarised by the FTI newsdesk.