Summary of dietary guidelines of different countries
Summary of dietary guidelines of different countries
(1) starchy foods (cereals, bread, some potatoes).
Common to all countries: emphasis on whole-grain cereals every day.
Sweden and Norway: 90 g wholemeal cereals for men (70 g for women).
Denmark: 75 g wholemeal cereals.
Netherlands - 250g bread per day (for men 19-50 years old; 150g for women), plus [300g potatoes or 200-250g cooked cereals]
Switzerland - 3 servings per day (a serving is either ~100g of bread or 45-75g of cereals in dry weight)
Spain - 25g fiber per day.
Japan >20g fiber per day. 50-65% of energy from carbohydrates.
France - every day, with an emphasis on whole-grain cereals. Avoid pesticides.
UK - one third of meals for starchy foods.
Italy and Germany recommendations I couldn't decipher.
US >112g whole grains and <112g refined cereals per day for 2400kcal/day diet
Australia, New Zealand - 6 servings (a serving is 75-120g of cooked cereals, or 40g of bread)
Singapore 5-7 servings of brown rice/wholemeal bread/potatoes per day. One serving of brown rice is 100g, one serving of bread is 60g, one serving of potatoes is 180g.
(3,4,5) fruits and vegetables
Germany >450g vegetables and 250g fruit (two fruits). 25g nuts can replace a fruit.
Czech Republic >400g vegetables and >200g fruit
Switzerland >360g vegetables and no more than 240g fruit (point 4)
Netherlands >250g vegetables and >200g fruit
Norway >250g vegetables, >250g fruit/berries
Finland 250g vegetables, 250g fruit/berries
USA 3 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruit for 2400kcal/day diet (cup is 240ml, don't know in grams. In New Zealand for example a cup is 150g vegetables or 75g leafy vegetables)
Australia 450g of vegetables/legumes and 300g of fruit
New Zealand - 450g vegetables and 300g fruit
Singapore - 200-300g vegetable and 260g fruit
Japan - 2 fruits per day and 5-6 "plates" of vegetables (couldn't find what that "plate" is)
Denmark >600g fruits and vegetables in total, more emphasis on vegetables
Sweden >500g total vegetables and fruit
France 400-500g total vegetables and fruit
Bulgaria >400g total vegetables and fruit
Portugal 550-900g vegetables, 500-800g fruit per day
Greece 600-800g vegetables and 360-600g fruit
Spain - 300-450g vegetables (point 5) and 240-360g fruit (point 4)
Italy - 3-4 medium (apple, orange) or 6-8 small (mandarin, apricot) fruits. 100g salad and 750-1000g vegetables (point 5, not sure I understood their wording about vegetables)
UK - one third of the meal.
Austria - 2 fruit the size of a fist, and 3 fists of vegetables
(2) Potatoes
Most countries have a good attitude toward boiled potatoes. Potatoes generally count along with cereals, and separately from vegetables.
Particular opinions:
Greece - no more than 400 grams of potatoes per week
France - no scientific data on potatoes, consume as much as you wish within reasonable limits
Netherlands - potatoes should occupy no more than half of the recommendations on wholemeal food intake (p.1)
USA - 6 cups of potatoes per week (and other starchy vegetables) for a diet of 2400 kcal/day
Malta - no more than 240g of potatoes per week
Hungary - no more than every other day.
And Denmark, for example, equates potatoes with whole-grain cereals: "At least 2/5 of the meal should be wholegrain cereals or potatoes".
Belgium-Flanders suggests eating potatoes with every meal: "Eat potatoes at every main meal.
6. Legumes
Germany - 70g raw or 125g cooked legumes per day
Greece - 2-3 servings per week (one serving is 150g to 200g cooked)
Netherlands - 2-3 times a week 60g cooked
Spain - eat 2-3 times a week
France - 2 times a week
Portugal 80-160g cooked legumes per day
Singapore 2-3 servings of pulses/meat/fish per day (one serving is 120g pulses, or 90g meat/fish)
In some countries, legumes count simply along with vegetables and are not specifically mentioned.
7. Dairy products
Note: In many documents, fermented milk also counts as milk.
Finland 500-600g milk and 2-3 slices of cheese a day.
Switzerland 600g of milk or yogurt a day.
Austria 400g of milk or yogurt and 50g of cheese a day.
Italy 375g milk and 375g yogurt per day, 200-300g fresh and 100-150g old cheese per week.
Netherlands 300-450g milk and 40g cheese per day
Germany 200-250g nonfat milk, and 50-60g cheese a day
Sweden 200-500g milk per day
Greece 2 servings per day (one serving equals 250g of milk or 30g of cheese or 60g of soft cheese).
France 2 servings a day (a serving is 150g milk or 30g cheese)
Spain simply says that dairy is basic and should be eaten daily.
UK discreetly says have some dairy or dairy alternatives (soy drinks)
USA - 720ml milk a day for any number of kcal/day
Australia, N.Z. - 2.5 servings of dairy per day (1 serving is 250g of milk, or 40g of cheese). Men over 70 are recommended 3.5 servings, and women over 51 are recommended 4 servings. And even people with impaired lactose absorption are recommended up to 250ml of milk per day, just broken down into smaller servings.
8. Meat
France, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway - no more than 500g of red meat per week.
Germany - no more than 300-600 grams of meat (including chicken) per week.
The Netherlands - no more than 500g of meat (all kinds) per week. Of these, no more than 300g of red meat.
Greece - no more than 120-150g of red meat per week. 240-300g of white meat per week recommended.
UK - no more than 70g of red meat per day
Switzerland - meat (including chicken) no more than 2-3 times a week
Spain - it is advised to eat meat not every day.
USA - meat, chicken and eggs total 124g per day for a 2400kcal/day diet
Australia, New Zealand - 3 servings of meat/chicken/fish/nuts/eggs per day (1 serving is ~100g of meat/chicken/fish, or 2 eggs, or 30g of nuts). It is emphasized that 100g of red meat in raw form are one serving, but in cooked it would be 65g. Australia - limit red meat (lean meat) to 455g per week. New Zealand - limit red meat to 500g per week (that's in cooked form, and it will be 700-750g in raw form).
Israel - minimize red meat. No more than 300g per week.
Singapore 2-3 servings of pulses/meat/fish per day (a serving of pulses is 120g, meat/fish 90g)
9. Fish
Netherlands - 100g per week
Germany - 150-220g per week
Denmark - 350g per week.
Greece 300-450g per week
Spain 300-500 g fillets per week or 500-800 g non-fillet per week
Norway 2-3 times a week 150g each
Finland 2-3 times a week 100-150g each
UK 2 times a week, 140g each
Italy, Sweden 2-3 times a week
France 2 times a week
Switzerland 1-2 times a week 100-120g each
USA - 280g per week for a 2400kcal/day diet
Australia 140-280g fish per week
Singapore - 2 servings of fish 90g each per week
10. Eggs
Greece - up to 4 per week.
Spain - up to 4-5 per week.
France - not enough scientific data for egg recommendations
Italy - 2-4 per week, not in one day
Netherlands 2-3 per week.
Austria up to 3 per week.
Finland 2-3 per week.
Australia - no evidence of health risks of eggs
11. oils and fats
Czech Republic, Spain - no more than 30% of calories. More olive oil.
Germany 60-80g fats per day. Every day, eat: 10-15 g of oil (e.g. rapeseed, walnut, or soybean oil) and 15-30 g of margarine or butter. Wow.
Greece 60-75g of fats. The main added fat is olive oil.
Netherlands 65g (men), 40g (women)
Switzerland 20-30g vegetable oils, of which at least half is rapeseed oil
U.S. - unsaturated fats should be 2.5 (or more) times more than saturated fats. Less than 8% of energy from saturated fats (according to the HEI index)
Australia - 4 servings of unsaturated oil for men, 2 for women. 1 serving is 7g mono/poly unsaturated butter or 10g nuts
Japan 20-30% energy from fats, <7% energy from saturated fats, ~10g w6 fats, ~2g w3 fats (depends on age, see p.13)
12. Nuts and seeds
Netherlands - 25 g per day
Finland - 30g per day
Switzerland 20-30g per day
Austria, Sweden - 2 tablespoons per day
Germany - 25g nuts can replace fruit.
Spain - several times a week
France - small handful per day
USA - 140g per week for a 2400kcal/day diet
13. Sweets -- unanimously as little as possible
14. Salt -- ~unanimously no more than 5-6g of salt
17. Alcohol - approximately unanimously no more than 20g of ethanol per day for men and 10g for women.
Israel, Netherlands, Austria, Spain -- limit as much as possible.
18. It is desirable to have variety in diet (different vegetables, fruits, etc.)
Note. Update dates for the national recommendation documents:
2020 - New Zealand
2019 - Australia, Israel
2017 - Germany, France, Greece
2016 - UK, Netherlands, Switzerland
2015 - Sweden, Denmark, Japan
2014 - Finland, Norway
2012 - Czech Republic
2009 - Austria
2008 - Spain
2003 - Italy
Recommendations may vary slightly depending on your age, gender, energy intake, and other things. As a rule, there is not much difference.
Links to guidelines:
Europe https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/health-knowledge-gateway/promotion-prevention/nutrition/food-based-dietary-guidelines
USA https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/
Australia https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/the-australian-dietary-guidelines (1128 links to scientific papers in references!)
New Zealand https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/eating-and-activity-guidelines-new-zealand-adults
Israel https://health.gov.il/PublicationsFiles/dietary%20guidelines%20EN.pdf
Singapore https://www.healthhub.sg/programmes/55/my-healthy-plate
Japan https://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/06-Seisakujouhou-10900000-Kenkoukyoku/Overview.pdf, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/kenkou/pdf/eiyou-syokuji4.pdf (couldn't find size of servings except for fruits)
Could not find detailed dietary guidelines of China and South Korea.
Canada guideline unfortunately does not contain detailed numbers: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/guidelines/
WHO recommendations: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet They are few: >400g fruits and vegetables, <30% energy from fats, <10% energy from saturated fats
Here the WHO also did a similar review in 2003, based on recommendations from different countries: "Food based dietary guidelines in the WHO European Region"
Here are recommendations of WHO 2012y for eastern mediterranean region