How Has Canada's Food Guide Changed Over Time?

Nicole Gavigan • June 13, 2023

A lot has changed in the last 80 years

By Nicole Gavigan, Education Specialist at Reimagine Agriculture

From its earliest days as a set of rules to help Canadians with wartime food rationing, to its current role as an important tool that reflects modern nutritional science, Canada’s Food Guide has been through a lot!

In 1942, Canada’s first-ever Food Guide was released, under the name “Canada’s Official Food Rules.” World War II ignited a time of scarce supplies and food rationing, prompting the government to design a guide to help Canadians stay healthy while navigating food scarcity.

Canada's First Ever Food Guide - Released in 1942

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

Each food group had a recommended number of daily servings, but milk had a defined serving size. Adults were advised to drink 1/2 pint, and children more than 1 pint of milk every day. To align with food rations and scarce food supplies, these serving sizes would have provided only about 70% of what was considered adequate nutritional intake at the time.

Canada’s Food Rules evolved twice in the 1940s, with new editions released in 1944 and 1949. These editions saw increased serving recommendations for milk (twice as much as before!), and reduced the number of food groups to 5 by moving cheese and eggs to the Meat and Fish category. These early versions of the guide stressed that the foods in these 5 categories were important for health, and should be eaten every day.

The first updated guide was released in 1944

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

Canada’s first in-colour food guide was released in 1949

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

The document wasn’t updated again until 1961, when Canada’s Food Rules officially became Canada’s Food Guide, the name it still holds today.

Recommendations for milk remained high, but were now more specific to life stages:

2.5 cups daily for children
4 cups daily for adolescents, pregnant, and nursing women
1.5 cups daily for adults

The 1961 edition was released with its official new name

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

The 1961 Guide was used for sixteen years, until its drastic update and re-release in 1977 saw five food categories shrink to four, with Fruits and Vegetables joining together. The guide also had daily serving recommendations for each food group, and for the first time, detailed how much food is in one serving.

The 1977 version provided serving sizes for all food groups

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

By 1982, growing evidence of the links between the foods we eat and chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease, put a greater focus on health and disease prevention. Canada’s Food Guide now recommended limiting our intake of fat, sugar, salt, and alcohol, and balancing our food intake with exercise and physical activity.

The 1982 guide included tips on healthy eating through variety, balance, and moderation

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

Ten years later, Canada’s Food Guide got another big makeover, becoming Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating in 1992, and focused on the fat content of foods, promoting “lower fat” food and dairy options.

The 1992 Guide introduced the familiar rainbow image

From History of Canada's Food Guides from 1942 to 2007

Fifteen years later, the 2007 version, called Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, was released with major design changes. Now a six page fold-out document, the guide had one whole page dedicated to daily serving recommendations for both males and females, in six different age categories, and for each food group! Although the serving recommendations, and the new Guide itself, were carefully designed according to current nutritional evidence by age and sex, it was criticized for being overly complicated and difficult to use.

The 2007 edition was the most detailed guide ever released

From: Food For Health

Health Canada heard that message loud and clear, as is evident from the newest version of Canada’s Food Guide, released in 2019. For the first time, the Guide is based on photos of food, with a single image of a plate full of fresh, colourful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and proteins (albeit, mostly plant-based!)

Notice the simple messages promoting healthy eating behaviours, including “Be mindful of your eating habits” and “Cook more often”.

Serving recommendations, and serving size measurements are gone entirely. And so is the milk! Milk isn’t mentioned at all in the 2019 Guide, although a small cup of yogurt can be seen on the plate of food. This is a dramatic change from the 1961 recommendation of 4 cups of milk daily for teens.

Canada’s newest Food Guide, released in 2019, focuses on overall food proportions and simple messaging

From: Canada's Food Guide

With that in mind, we are happy to see Canada’s Food Guide staying up-to-date and relevant as we learn more about food, nutrition, and our health.

To learn more about the new guide, and its potential impacts on public and environmental health, check out our latest and greatest educational video series here !

< Older Post Newer Post >

2024 Canada Animal Welfare Scorecard: Alarming Findings on Animal Welfare and Corporate Commitments

By Jessica Bohrson at Mercy For Animals • November 7, 2024

The 2024 Canada Animal Welfare Scorecard evaluated animal welfare commitments and transparency across 40 leading Canadian food companies. Focusing on cage-free eggs, gestation-crate-free pork, and adherence to Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) standards, the report uncovers serious gaps in transparency, industry-wide “humanewashing,” and persistent animal welfare issues. Here’s a breakdown of the most troubling findings. 1. Lack of Transparency in Major Retailers and Foodservice Providers Walmart Canada, Calgary Co-op, and Federated Co-operatives have demonstrated minimal transparency, failing to publish updates or roadmaps on their animal welfare commitments. Walmart Canada is the only top-five retailer in Canada not reporting any progress on welfare practices, despite publishing incremental updates in the U.S. Meanwhile, Calgary Co-op still lacks any published policies or progress toward ending confinement for hens and pigs, despite its members’ vote to support humane conditions over a decade ago. 2. Misleading Industry Claims and "Humanewashing" Tactics A major issue facing Canadian consumers is the widespread “humanewashing” in the food industry, where companies use misleading labels and terminology to suggest higher animal welfare standards than actually practiced. Companies like Burnbrae Farms label their eggs as “Nestlaid,” implying cage-free conditions, which leads nearly half of surveyed consumers to mistakenly believe these eggs come from open barns. Industry groups, including Chicken Farmers of Canada , amplify this confusion by using terms like “family farms” to evoke images of small, humane operations, even when products are sourced from intensive confinement systems. Rather than improving actual welfare standards, these organizations invest heavily in shaping public opinion through corporate responsibility reports and marketing campaigns, leaving consumers misinformed about the true conditions behind their food. 3. The Crisis of "Frankenchickens" in Poultry Production The Canadian poultry industry’s use of ultrafast-growing birds, often termed “Frankenchickens,” remains a primary welfare issue. These birds are bred to grow four times faster than chickens in the 1950s, resulting in painful health problems and limiting their ability to move or access food and water. Although companies have pledged to stop using these breeds by 2026, few have shown significant action on this front. Major Canadian poultry producers continue to use these breeds, creating severe welfare implications. 4. Continued Use of Gestation Crates for Pigs Gestation crates remain the norm across Canadian pork production, confining mother pigs in cramped stalls that prevent them from turning around. Some progress is evident, with companies like Costco and Starbucks Canada reporting steps toward group housing. However, Walmart Canada and Federated Co-operatives have not published policies or progress. While the industry timeline for complete phase-out stretches to 2029, these companies have yet to implement meaningful welfare improvements, prolonging extreme confinement for Canada’s 1.2 million breeding sows. 5. Slow Progress in the Shift to Cage-Free Eggs Despite growing opposition to cage confinement from Canadian consumers, the Canadian egg industry continues to invest in “enriched” cage systems that offer only minor improvements over conventional battery cages. Companies like Metro and Sobeys committed to sourcing cage-free eggs but report slow progress across their supply chains, while Calgary Co-op has yet to report any steps forward. Globally, over 2,600 companies have committed to eliminating cages, but Canada falls behind due to its reliance on slightly modified cage systems. Moving Forward: Accountability and Clear Roadmaps Required Companies need transparent roadmaps, annual goals, and consistent reporting to keep pace with rising consumer and investor expectations. Brands such as A&W Canada, Aramark, and Panago Pizza have set strong examples, publishing BCC-compliant policies and reporting progress, proving tangible progress is achievable. However, for others, a significant gapremains between public promises and the welfare practices in their supply chains.