Austria’s new dietary guidelines promote plant proteins over meat and dairy | Research Feature
12 August 2024
As countries around the globe review their dietary recommendations for healthy eating, there has been a definite shift towards a more plant-based approach. In April, the World Health Organization called for experts to help design global dietary guidelines with a to-be-defined “optimal” ratio of plant-based to animal-based foods.
Closer to home, the food industry, policymakers and academics track with keen interest these international recommendations as the government is halfway through its review of the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines that are due to be released at the end of 2026. There will be an opportunity via a public consultation to provide feedback on the draft guidelines before their finalisation and publication.
Austria1 last month joined Germany, Canada, and Scandinavia in considering health and food sustainability by encouraging an increased intake of plant-based foods and their products and reduced intake of animal-based products. The new Austrian Food Pyramids will be published later this year including an omnivore and ovo-lacto vegetarian version.
Austria’s updated dietary guidelines have recommendations dedicated to pulses, legumes and products such as tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soy yoghurt. Under the new “plate models”, which follows Eat-Lancet’s Planetary Health Diet, it is recommended that the diet consist of 50% fruit and vegetables, 25% whole grains and potatoes, and the remaining 25% be mostly plant-based protein with meat (226 g/week or about 33g/day), fish (200 g/week or about 29 g/day), milk and dairy to be reduced. In Australia, as a reference, our dietary guidelines recommend eating up to 455g of lean, cooked red meat per week such as beef, lamb, veal, pork, goat or kangaroo as part of 3-4 balanced meals. With regards to dairy and dairy alternatives, our guidelines recommend that most people need at least 2 or 3 serves of dairy foods (or dairy alternatives) every day. Older adults should aim for 4 serves of dairy or dairy alternatives per day to ensure adequate calcium intake.
Omnivorous and vegetarian nutritional recommendations for Austria were derived using a scientific calculation method with the involvement of (inter)national experts and members of the National Nutrition Commission. The new Austrian nutritional recommendations are currently available as frequency and quantity information for food groups and will be converted into a new Austrian food pyramid in a further step. See Table 1 below.
The guidelines suggest a minimum of 3 servings of plant-based proteins per week and 4 for vegetarians. They also suggest that meat-eaters eat a maximum of three servings of meat and fish per week, though more generous allowances for dairy and eggs are included.
Table 1 New Austrian nutrition recommendations by food group [translated]
Food Group
Ovo-lacto vegetarian recommendation (portion)
Ovo-lacto vegetarian recommendation (quantity)
Drinking water
6 servings/day
1500 ml/day
Vegetables & fruits
5 servings/day
587 g/day
Grain/potatoes
5 servings/day
431 g/day
Pulses & products
4 servings/week
54 g/day
Eggs
4 servings/week
38 g/day
Milk and dairy products
3 servings/day
579 g/day
Fats & oils
2 servings/day
32 g/day
Fatty, sweet & salty
rarely
7 % from energy
Food Group
Omnivore recommendation (portion)
Omnivore recommendation (quantity)
Drinking water
6 servings/day
1500 ml/day
Vegetables & fruits
5 servings/day
672 g/day
Grain/potatoes
4 servings/day
378 g/day
Pulses & products
3 servings/week
37 g/day
Fats & oils
2 servings/day
26 g/day
Meat
1 portion of meat + 1 portion of fish + optionally 1 portion of meat or fish per week
