The Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid is really only a two-dimensional triangle illustrating servings from basic food groups that constitute a healthful daily diet, so it is only natural that someone would evolve it into a real three-dimensional pyramid-for a more graphic impact.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington consumer group, did just that, imposing its own stricter nutritional standards.
The USDA's "pyramid" doesn't distinguish between dairy products such as full-fat ice cream and skim milk, or french fries and baked potatoes, or lentils and pot roast. But the multi-faceted pyramid, which the CSPI wants the USDA to adopt as an upgrade, separates items in each food level on the basis of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sugar.
CSPI's 3-D pyramid has a green side for foods that can be consumed "anytime," such as fresh fruits and vegetables, plain pasta and skim milk; a yellow side indicating "sometimes" foods such as french fries, turkey bologna and 2 percent milk; and a red side for "seldom" food choices, those with high fat or sodium, such as apple pie, cheddar cheese and skin-on chicken thighs.
To get a 7-inch cardboard figure send $5 to CSPI-Pyramid, Suite 300, 1875 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009-5728.