13 Facts About MyPlate

MyPlate is the current nutrition guide published by the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, and serves as a recommendation based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

MyPlate is displayed on food packaging and used in nutrition education in the United States.

MyPlate was established by the USDA in 2011 to combine the recommendations of these past nutrition guides into a graphic that was easy to read.

MyPlate is divided into four sections of approximately 30 percent grains, 40 percent vegetables, 10 percent fruits and 20 percent protein, accompanied by a smaller circle representing dairy, such as a glass of milk or a yogurt cup.

MyPlate focuses primarily on the addition of fruits and vegetables into a diet due to the nutritional benefits associated with these food groups.

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MyPlate suggests choosing from a mix of different colors of fruits and vegetables in order to maximize the intake of vitamins and minerals.

MyPlate was widely received as an improvement on the previous MyPyramid icon, which had been criticized as too abstract and confusing.

MyPlate was the revised version with a visual that made the recommendations very clear and easy to understand.

Harvard School of Public Health released their own adjusted and more detailed version of MyPlate, called the Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid, in response.

The Healthy Eating Pyramid was suggested as an alternative to MyPlate that is more up-to-date with scientific nutritional findings.

HSPH Chair of the Department of Nutrition, Walter Willett, criticized MyPlate, saying: "unfortunately, like the earlier U S Department of Agriculture pyramids, MyPlate mixes science with the influence of powerful agricultural interests, which is not the recipe for healthy eating".

MyPlate recommends the consumption of milk or some form of dairy without explicitly encouraging drinking water.

The MyPlate icon has been translated into eighteen different languages in order to encourage the eating habits of individuals around the world.