Pyramid or Plate? : The Development of a National Food Guide for the UK: A Preliminary Article

A National Food Guide (NFG) for the UK will enable all nutrition educators to use the same vehicle for conveying food and health messages. The public will, thus, receive a consistent message, visually reinforced through a variety of channels. The development of a NFG for the UK is a priority project for the Government′s Nutrition Task Force and is a tripartite project between the Department of Health (DoH),Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and the Health Education Authority (HEA). Discusses the main aim of the HEA funded research project (Stage III): to assess actual consumer understanding and recall of information contained within the guide (as opposed to stated preferences) when the information was presented in different ways. The research experimentally tested the pyramid and plate formats of a food selection guide with a sample of 2,000 consumers in the UK. Presents the research design and methodology; results will appear in a later issue. It is planned to launch the final NFG in summer 1994.