Australia moves to add sustainability messaging to its dietary guidelines

26 Feb 2024 --- The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia has moved to include sustainability messaging in its national dietary guidelines in a milestone effort that will align it with the approach of nations such as Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Qatar, Norway, Brazil and Germany. The guidelines will be finalized in 2026.

Independent think tank on alternative proteins, Food Frontier, strongly supports the initiative, confirming that including sustainability messaging of “any kind within the guidelines” is a significant step toward less environmentally damaging food systems.

“The dietary guidelines are a respected and well-used reference for food experts and educators. If the recommendation is taken onboard, it could increase Australian consumers’ awareness of the environmental impacts of their diet and benefit their health,” says Dr. Simon Eassom, chief executive officer of Food Frontier.

Global urgency for healthy diets
In December 2023, 143 countries approved the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, underscoring the importance of food systems in climate change mitigation. Nutrition and health were featured strongly at the conference, where industry players called for more substantial commitments by governments to address the effects climate change will have on food availability. 

The urgency of shifting to sustainably healthy diets was highlighted as a crucial aspect of the fight against climate change. As for Australia, the potential inclusion of sustainability messaging would align its dietary guidelines more closely with the WHO’s ‘One Health’ movement, which takes a unifying approach to balancing and optimizing the health of people, animals and ecosystems, which it views as interdependent. 

“We are yet to see how sustainability will be incorporated by the NHMRC in the review process, but we hope the guidelines will include evidence about the varying impacts of protein sources,” says Eassom. 

In 2013, at the previous revision of the guidelines, NHMRC moved against including sustainability messaging in the document’s appendices. Now, the council recommends it be included. 

Eassom outlines: “We are confident that the final guidelines will be objectively assessed, measured and balanced and highlight the benefits of alternative and complementary protein sources that — if plant-based — provide essential fiber while appealing to those seeking familiar and easily implemented dietary choices.” 

The difference dietary guidelines make
A study by the University of Oxford analyzed the dietary guidelines of 85 countries and found that official dietary advice directly harmed the environment and people’s health. Sustainable dietary guidelines would go a long way to help Australia address climate change through the transformation of food systems.

A recent study found that consumers often perceive healthy foods as sustainable, even when this is not reality. German researchers found no association between the perception and the actual link between a meal’s environmental sustainability and healthiness. This was unrelated to characteristics such as vegan content, gender or eating style.

Moreover, sustainable development is a part of the new era of ecological civilization. It relies on rivers, mountains, forests and lakes to provide nutritious diets while not compromising on environmental security, which is the goal of “the big food view,” according to a new study.

By Inga de Jong