What are the Dietary Guidelines?
Want some easy answers for how to eat better today and stay healthier for tomorrow? The Dietary Guidelines are published every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of the Guidelines is to provide dietary advice based on science to all Americans over the age of two in order to promote health through diet and activity, and to help reduce the risk for disease. The Dietary Guidelines were used as the foundation for the creation of MyPyramid, released in April 2005. For more information see MyPyramid. These guidelines are also used as the basis for federal food or nutrition education programs such as Food Stamps, School Lunch, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and other federal programs.

Why should I care about the Dietary Guidelines?
The choices that you make today in your nutrition and physical activity will affect you and your family's health in the future. Not only does eating a balanced diet help you feel good, but may help reduce your risk for diet-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer.

What is being recommended?
The Dietary Guidelines recommend eating a variety of nutrient-packed foods, being active, and staying within your daily calorie needs. (Amounts given below are based on a 2,000 calorie diet)

1. Calories: Get the most nutrition out of your calories — choose foods packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients, but lower in calories.

2. Balance: Find your balance between food and physical activity — be physically active for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

3. Mix up your choices within each food group:

1. Focus on fruits — 2 cups per day; eat a variety, like bananas, berries, and melons.
2. Vary your veggies — 2½ cups per day; eat a variety, especially of dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, beans, and peas.
3. Get your calcium-rich foods — 3 cups per day; like low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese. If you are lactose intolerant, choose lactose-free milk and/or calcium-fortified foods and beverages.
4. Make half your grains whole — eat at least 3 oz. of whole grains daily; choose whole-grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice, or pasta every day.
5. Go lean with protein — choose lean meats, poultry, and fish as well as beans.

4. Know the limits on fats, salt, and sugars — look for foods low in saturated fats, cholesterol and trans fat.

5. To know the facts, use the label — for a healthier you, use the nutrition facts label to make smart food choices quickly and easily.

6. Play it safe with food — know how to prepare, handle, and store food safely.

7. Moderate alcohol intake — if you choose to drink alcohol, drink in moderation, that is, 1 drink per day for women and 2 drinks per day for men.

How can Campbell help you achieve the Dietary Guidelines' goals?
Campbell offers easy and convenient solutions to help you meet the recommendations:

• More than 125 products in Campbell's® lines of soups, Prego® and Pace® sauces, V8® beverages, and SpaghettiOs® pastas offer at least a ½ cup of vegetables. Try a Campbell's® Classic Tomato Soup at Hand® for a quick snack that provides 1 cup of vegetables. For a list of Campbell's soups that provide at least a ½ cup serving of vegetables click here.
• Four ounces of vegetable juices, like V8® 100% vegetable juice, and Campbell's® tomato juice provide a ½ cup of vegetables.
• How do you find whole-grain items in the supermarket? Look on the label. The words "whole" or "whole grain" should be before the name of the grain in the ingredient list. The whole grain should be the first ingredient listed. Pepperidge Farm offers several varieties of whole-grain bread products such as Pepperidge Farm® Natural Whole Grain breads and 100% Whole Wheat English muffins and bagels.
• Broth-based soups are recognized in the Dietary Guidelines as a way to help people control calories. Try a delicious bowl of Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup as a first course at your next meal. Studies suggest you may eat fewer total calories at that meal.
• Campbell offers many choices in different sodium levels including condensed soups such as Low Sodium Chicken with Noodle and Cream of Mushroom soups and 25% Less Sodium soups, Chicken Noodle and Cream of Mushroom varieties.
• Campbell also offers an extensive selection of products with healthy levels of sodium (480 mg or less per serving) such as Campbell's® Tomato and V8® juices, and 45 varieties of Select Harvest® soups (including light and microwavable bowls). In addition, Campbell's® 25 varieties of Healthy Request® soups (including Chunky™, condensed and Select Harvest® varieties) provide 410mg of sodium per serving. Campbell's® Tomato soup now meets the healthy level for sodium at 480mg per serving.
• 6 varieties of Pepperidge Farm® bread are now made with less sodium, including 100% Natural 100% Whole Wheat, 100% Natural 9 Grain, 100% Natural German Dark Wheat, as well as Original White, Oatmeal, and Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat.
• More than two-thirds of Campbell soups, sauces, beverages, and prepared foods are low in total fat (3 grams or less per serving), saturated fat (1 gram or less per serving), and cholesterol (20 milligrams or less per serving).
• If you can't consume dairy, choose lactose-free milk and/or calcium-fortified foods and beverages, such as SpaghettiOs® Plus Calcium canned pasta, Calcium Enriched V8 100% vegetable juice or Pepperidge Farm Calcium Cheddar Goldfish crackers.
Where should I go for more information?
Go to www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines for more specific information on the Dietary Guidelines, to calculate how many calories you need in a day, and for amounts within each food group needed at other calorie levels.