Healthy diet guidelines are being reviewed, says health minister

The Dutch dietary advisory centre Voedingscentrum is currently working on new recommendations which will include the latest WHO advice on red and processed meats, health minister Edith Schippers said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the WHO published new research which described processed meats such as bacon and sausages as an important carcinogen.

The national health council is currently finalising its review of what should constitute a healthy diet and this will then be translated into formal recommendations by the Voedingscentrum, the minister said.

In addition, the link between eating a lot of red or processed meats and intestinal cancer is not new, Schippers said.

The current recommended Dutch diet dates from 1981 and is based on the five main food groups, known as the ‘schijf van vijf’.

Many experts consider the current recommendations to be out-of-date. For example, according to the website, a 30-year-old woman should eat six slices of bread and drink almost half a litre of milk a day.