News

Plant-based shift: Netherlands updates national food pyramid

The Dutch nutrition authority has updated the country's food pyramid, rebalancing animal and plant-based consumption to align with government updates to dietary guidelines.

This month, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation Voedingscentrum updated its “Wheel of Five” dietary guidelines food pyramid. The five food groups in the pyramid remain unchanged – water, tea and coffee; bread, grain products and potatoes; vegetables and fruit; oils and fats; legumes, nuts, fish, eggs, meat, dairy and dairy alternatives – but recommendations on quantities have changed.

The biggest shifts to the pyramid are seen in adjustments around quantities for animal-based products and plant-based products, in the category where legumes, meat and dairy sit.

A flexitarian shift

The update largely sees a rebalancing between the consumption of animal and plant-based products, “for the health of people and the planet”, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation said.

The updated food pyramid tool, designed to help consumers “eat healthily, sustainably and safely”, can be used with filters online, so consumers can receive relevant advice based on dietary needs.

For adults aged 18-50 who eat both meat and fish, the update now suggests a higher consumption of plant-based proteins such as legumes, tofu and tempeh, moving from 120-180 grams per week up to 250 grams per week.

Suggested weekly meat intake has, by contrast, dropped from 500 grams to 300 grams, of which no more than 100 grams is red meat. The recommendation for cheese has also decreased from 40 grams to 20 grams per day, with advice to alternate between dairy and fortified dairy alternatives.

The Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation said revisions align with changes made to the country's Guidelines for Good Nutrition, made by the Health Council in December 2025, which saw a shift towards a more plant-based dietary pattern.

The 2025 revision saw recommendations around legume consumption change, specifying people eat 250 grams every week instead of a simpler suggestion to “eat legumes every week”. Recommendations around red meat consumption were also changed from “limit red and processed meat” to “eat no more than 200 grams of red meat per week” and “as little processed meat as possible”.

“Health, sustainability and food safety are inextricably linked,” said Petra Verhoef, director at the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. “We demonstrate this with the updated food pyramid. All calculated dietary patterns are as healthy as possible, have a low environmental impact, and take safe limits into account. In this way, we take good care not only of ourselves, but also of the world around us and of future generations.”

Writing in a LinkedIn post about the update, Judith van der Horst-Graat, lead for food and health at Dutch non-profit FoodValley, said: “Overall, the revised guidelines align dietary health with sustainability priorities while offering more adaptable solutions for diverse consumer needs.”

Industry action is needed to drive ‘wider, lasting’ change

In light of the update, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation called on industry action to help drive wider, lasting change in food habits. “We emphasise that the government, producers and providers have a significant influence on the food choices people make. It is therefore necessary for them to take major steps so that healthy, sustainable and safe choices are more accessible.”

According to recent research conducted by Dutch non-profit Foodvalley in the Netherlands, food companies and retailers in the country are already making changes to shift the balance away from meats towards alternative proteins.

Analysis of 115 products in the market showed that plant-enriched meats, for example, also known as hybrid products, “have made a definitive breakthrough in Dutch retail”, according to the non-profit. A baseline measurement showed that nearly all supermarkets had embraced the segment, with high-turnover private label products like minced meat, smoked sausage and hamburgers “the primary candidates for plant-based enrichment”. Notably, Foodvalley said retailers are employing a “soft communication strategy” with many only listing the plant-based components in the ingredient declaration, as required by law.

Foodvalley said experts predict plant-enriched meats will double over the next year in the country, driven by rising meat prices, and plant-enriched dairy products will also rise.