The 5 Food Groups

The key to eating well is to enjoy a variety of nutritious foods from each of the Five Food Groups.

These Five Food Groups make up the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating

Fruits

A wide variety of fruit is grown and available in Australia. There is plenty of choice throughout the year.  Choosing fruits in season provides better value and better quality.  Eating seasonally also adds more variety to your diet throughout the year.  And just like with veggies, choosing different coloured fruits increases the variety of nutrients, which can enhance your health!Choose fruits from these different fruit categories:pome fruits such as apples and pearscitrus fruit such as oranges, mandarins and grapefruistone fruit such as apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines.

What is in the Grains (cereals) group?

• Grain foods are mostly made from wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley, millet, quinoa and corn.  The different grains can be cooked and eaten whole, ground into flour to make a variety of cereal foods like bread, pasta and noodles, or made into ready-to-eat breakfast cereals.

What’s in the lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans group?

Legumes provide many of the same nutrients as lean meats, poultry, fish and eggs and because of this they have been placed in this food group as well as the vegetable food group. They are essential in vegetarian and vegan eating patterns to get enough of the key nutrients found in this food group.

What’s in the lean meat and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans group?

Foods from this food group fall into 6 categories. Examples include:

1. Lean meats – Beef, lamb, veal, kangaroo, lean (lower salt) sausages
2. Poultry – Chicken, turkey, duck, emu, goose, bush birds
3. Fish and seafood – Fish, prawns, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, scallops, clams
4. Eggs – Chicken eggs, duck eggs
5. Nuts and seeds – Almonds, pine nuts, walnut, macadamia, hazelnut, cashew, peanut, nut spreads, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, brazil nuts
6. Legumes/beans – All beans, lentils, chickpeas, split peas, tofu.

What’s in the milk, yoghurt, cheese and / or alternative group?

A wide range of milk and yoghurt products are available with varying levels of fat.  Milk can be fresh, dried, evaporated, or UHT (long life). Cheese is usually high in kilojoules, saturated fat and salt and is best limited to 2-3 times a week. However, some cheeses also have reduced levels of fat and salt.

What’s in the vegetables and legumes / beans group?

There are many different types of vegetables grown and made available in Australia with a large variety of choice throughout the year.  Vegetables come from many different parts of the plant, including the leaves, roots, tubers, flowers, stems, seeds and shoots.