**10. Some National Food Guides**

The Chinese dietary guidelines were first published in 1989 and revised in 2007. China uses the 'Food Guide Pagoda' (Figure 2), which is divided into five levels of recommendations.

**Figure 2.** Food guide pagoda.

‐ In Switzerland, in order to reduce trade barriers with the European Union, the Swiss food law has been adapted to the European law (Figure 3). Some Swiss special provisions for the reason of health protection persist. For example, a positive list of health related allegations for food and the obligation for self-supervision, and reporting and licensing requirements [47].

**Figure 3.** The Swiss food pyramid and children's nutrition disk (**A**), the pyramid; (**B**), the plate for children.

In the USA (Figure 4) and Canada (Figure 5), food guidelines mention yogurt and kefir, but there is no emphasis on them being fermented foods, nor is there inclusion of fermented foods as a healthy category [48].

**Figure 4.** The USA MyPyramid food guide. USDA, Unites States Department of Agriculture.

**Figure 5.** The Canadian food guide.

The United Kingdom (Figure 6) published its first set of dietary guidelines in 1994, and they have been regularly updated since then. Their Food Guide is still presented as a plate, and there is no category of fermented food. The "Eatwell Guide" (2017) has been recently approved [49].

The Swedish and Norwegian models (Figure 7) for healthy eating, also in the form of a plate, have no section allotted to dairy products or any fermented foods [50,51].

**Figure 7.** The Scandinavian food guide.

The Australia New Zealand Food Authority produced Standards Code in 2014 (Figure 8), the standard related to Fermented Milk Products, including yoghurt; however, this was repealed in March 2016 (Table 2). Phytosterol, phytostanols and their esters may only be added to yoghurt in defined clear conditions of package size (200 g), percentage fat (1.5%) and total sterol added (the total plant sterol equivalents content added should be no less than 0.8 g and no more than 1.0 g per package) [52].

**Figure 8.** The Australian food guide.

**Table 2.** In fermented milk and the fermented milk portion of a food containing fermented milk, each component or parameter must comply with the value specified.


In Japan, like in most countries, it is enhanced that every food group should be taken daily in moderation in order to achieve a well-balanced diet, but it does not specifically highlight fermented foods as a category (Figure 9) [53]. ‐

**Figure 9.** The Japanese food guide. SV= servings.

The one exception in Asia is India, whose pyramid of four levels explicitly encourages the consumption of fermented foods (Figure 10). The National Institute of Nutrition's 2010 "Dietary Guidelines for Indians" suggests specifically to pregnant women that they should eat more whole grains, sprouted grams and fermented foods [54].

With few exceptions, fermented foods are generally absent as a recommended category of food for daily intake in Food Guides, reflecting a failure to appreciate the benefits resulting from the process of fermentation, which have been supported by numerous studies [55].

Findings in The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark emphasize the need to differentiate the types of dairy products, fermented and non-fermented, with regards to their health benefits, instead of promoting all dairy products, as is the case with many food guides [56–58].

The primary expectation of the general consumer today is that governments make sure proper measures are in place to ensure food sold is safe to eat. Hence, food is something we all consume; therefore, the safety of food is an issue valued and to which attention is widely drawn. To this end, several factors influence how an event is approached including the number of people ill, the severity of the illness, the distribution and volumes of food, whether the contaminant is known or unknown, and the international and trade implications.

Moreover, how people react to risks is mediated by many factors, including how risk information is perceived, how we react to social and cultural influences and how choices are structured [59], and the latter influences the legal construction designed to manage risks. What might be handled as a routine incident in one country may be considered a crisis in another [60].

**Figure 10.** The Indian food guide.

‐ There are many alternatives for reinforcing healthy eating, such as the Mediterranean, Latin and Asian Pyramids. They use specific cultural eating patterns to offer evidence-based advice for healthy eating. A traditional Mediterranean diet (Figure 11), considered as the best balanced diet to follow, is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, unrefined grains and olive oil, with a moderate intake of fish, alcohol, and a low intake of meat and dairy products, which is inversely associated with total and cardiovascular mortality [61]. 

**Figure 11.** The Mediterranean diet pyramid.

‐

The Portuguese Food Guide, issued in 1977, revised in 2003, is a food wheel divided into segments representing seven food groups (Figure 12). Water is in the center of the Food wheel in order to highlight the importance of hydration balance [62].

**Figure 12.** The Portuguese food wheel guide.
