Food group

Grains, the largest food group in many nutrition guides, includes oats, barley and bread. Cookies, however, are categorized as sugars.

Vegetables, the second largest food group in many nutrition guides, come in a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes.

A food group is a collection of foods that share similar nutritional properties or biological classifications. Nutrition guides typically divide foods into food groups and recommend daily servings of each group for a healthy diet.

Common food groups

• Dairy, also called milk products and sometimes categorized with milk alternatives or meat, is typically a smaller category in nutrition guides. Examples of dairy products include milk, yogurt and cheese. Though they are also dairy products, ice cream is typically categorized with sweets and butter is typically classified with fats and oils in nutrition guides.
• Fats and oils, sometimes categorized with sweets, is typically a very small category in nutrition guides, if present at all, and is sometimes listed apart from other food groups. Examples include cooking oil, butter, margarine and shortening.
• Fruit, sometimes categorized with vegetables, is typically a medium-sized category in nutrition guides, though occasionally a small one. Examples include apples, oranges, bananas, berries and melons.
• Grains, also called cereals and sometimes inclusive of potatoes and other starches, is often the largest category in nutrition guides. Examples include wheat, rice, oats, barley, bread and pasta.
• Meat, sometimes labeled protein and occasionally inclusive of legumes, eggs, meat analogues and/or dairy, is typically a medium- to smaller-sized category in nutrition guides. Examples include chicken, fish, turkey, pork and beef.
• Sweets, also called sugary foods and sometimes categorized with fats and oils, is typically a very small category in nutrition guides, if present at all, and is sometimes listed apart from other food groups. Examples include candy, soft drinks, cake, pie and ice cream.
• Vegetables, sometimes categorized with fruit and occasionally inclusive of legumes, is typically a large category second only to grains, or sometimes equal to grains, in nutrition guides. Examples include spinach, carrots, onions, peppers, and broccoli.
• Water is treated in very different ways by different food guides. Some exclude the category, others list it separately from other food groups, and yet others make it the center or foundation of the guide. Water is sometimes categorized with tea, fruit juice, vegetable juice and even soup, and is typically recommended in plentiful amounts.

Uncommon food groups

The number of "common" food groups varies depending on who is defining them. Canada's Food Guide, which has been in continual publication since 1942 and is the second most requested government document (after the income tax form) in Canada, recognizes only four official food groups, listing the remainder of foods as "another." Some of these "others" include:

• Alcohol is listed apart from other food groups and recommended only for certain people in moderation by Harvard's Healthy Eating Pyramid and the University of Michigan's Healing Foods Pyramid, while Italy's food pyramid includes a half-serving of wine and beer.
• Multivitamins are listed apart from other food groups by Harvard's Healthy Eating Pyramid.