Brazil has been using a translated version of the classic (and much-maligned) USDA Food Pyramid since 1999. “As an icon, it has a lot of problems,” explains Furtado.

In Brazil, a hotbed of sound progressive nutritional thinking, the Ministry of Health has proven that governmental dietary advice need not be delivered in timid, industry-palatable bureaucratese.

In Japan, the food guide is shaped like a traditional spinning top toy. At the top, the widest layer represents the foods that people should eat the most of. Here, grain-based dishes (rice, bread ...