Math on the menu: The flipped food pyramid

Something tastes different this year. The United States government officially overhauled the Dietary Guidelines for Americans on January 7. There are some new foods on the menu, along with a revised mandate for the $2 trillion U.S. food and beverage industry. These guidelines determine everything from $30 billion in school lunches to the “healthy” labels on your favorite foods. Catch the full plate of updates from Science News’s Tina Hesman Saey.

🧀 What’s in, what’s out

The stated goal of the new guidelines (as depicted by an inverted pyramid) is a crackdown on empty calories and ultra-processed foods, with a new emphasis on minimally-processed “real food.” By lowering the recommended threshold for added sugars to no more than 10 grams per meal, the government is declaring war on the hidden sweeteners that have traditionally flavored processed foods. While recommendations about processed food and sugars square with science, other recommendations (like those about saturated fat) are muddled and contradictory, experts say. But as the government leans into meat, full-fat dairy and high-fiber, nutrient-dense foods, companies will scramble to reposition their brands for consumers and to achieve regulatory compliance.

∑ Math on the menu

The guidelines are a roadmap for existing industry giants to overhaul their offerings and for the next generation of healthy brands to find a spot on the shelf.