Dishing Up Some Healthful Advice Is Not So Simple : Meat, dairy industries seen slowing switch from food wheel to new schematic.

Last spring, the Department of Agriculture was poised to release “The Eating Right Pyramid,” a new graphic that would replace the old “food wheel” and illustrate--for the first time in specific proportions--the makeup of a healthful diet.

But just before the design was to become public, the USDA decided to yank it, saying it needed further study.

Public interest groups and others claimed that the decision was the result of pressure from the meat and dairy industries, who were angry because the pyramid de-emphasized their products. But USDA officials insisted it was because the then-new secretary, Edward R. Madigan, was taken by surprise and felt the design might cause confusion among some groups--particularly children--and needed more work.

Whatever the reason, the old food wheel continues as the standard. No one knows when a new design will be released--or if it will still be pyramid shaped--although some expect one may be out before the end of January.

BACKGROUND: Most adults who grew up in this country during the 1950s and later remember the old food wheel. It hung on virtually every classroom bulletin board and illustrated--in equal amounts--the basic four foods that everyone should eat: meats, dairy products, grains, and fruits and vegetables.

But today, as a result of a growing body of research linking diet and health, many experts believe the four basic food groups are no longer equal.

Diets high in saturated fats and low in fiber have been associated with heart disease and certain cancers, as well as obesity and other unhealthy conditions. To that end, nutrition information experts in the USDA sought to promote a new design that would reflect current medical and scientific knowledge.

The pyramid, which would have replaced the traditional wheel, was intended to set eating priorities by showing the more preferred foods in larger spaces.

The base would show grains--breads, cereals, rice, pasta--with a recommendation of six to 11 servings every day, the largest intake. Just above it, somewhat smaller in space, but still in hefty amounts: vegetables and fruits--three to five servings of vegetables, and two to four servings of fruits.

Above the fruits and vegetables--and much smaller--would be foods higher in fat: meats, poultry, fish, beans, nuts and dairy products--only two to three servings of each daily.

Finally, at the top--and in the smallest space--would be fats, oils and sweets, along with the advice: “use sparingly.”

But just as the pyramid was to have been released, top officials from the National Cattlemen’s Assn. met with Madigan and complained about it, saying they had been taken by surprise.

Madigan, who had only recently taken over the department, told the meat industry officials that “he was surprised too, and wanted to look into it,” according to Alisa Harrison, a spokeswoman for the cattlemen’s association, who was present at that meeting.

Harrison said the cattlemen opposed the pyramid because it appeared to rank “good foods and bad foods.”

“We feel there is no such thing as good foods and bad foods--only bad diets,” she said. “We believe consumers should be advised to eat a variety of foods in moderation.”

Some advocacy groups disagree.

“Consumers should be changing the combinations of foods they choose,” said Ellen Haas, of Public Voice for Food and Health Policy. “They should be moving away from foods high in fat, sodium and sugar and moving more toward grains, fruits and vegetables--and that’s what the pyramid did. The important step is to move away from making all groups equal.”

OUTLOOK: No one really knows when the new design will be forthcoming, or what it will look like.

Carol Tucker Foreman, an assistant secretary of agriculture during the Jimmy Carter Administration, served as a member of a recent test “focus group” that examined several different new designs, including one that used bowl shapes. Another was of “a market basket, like a grocery cart” that showed the different foods but “didn’t show them proportionately,” she said.

Foreman said the newest proposals also included several revised versions of the pyramid, which she said were better than the one that was halted. One was drawn in a three-dimensional fashion and “really looked like a pyramid, instead of a triangle,” she said, adding: “That was my favorite.”

The Eating Right Pyramid

“The Eating Right Pyramid,” a graphic that would replace the old “food wheel” and illustrate-for the first time in specific proportions-the makeup of a healthful diet, was prepared by the Department of Agriculture, but never officially released. Milk, Yogurt and Cheese Group: 2 to 3 SERVINGS Vegetable Group: 3 to 5 SERVINGS Fats, oils and sweets: USE SPARINGLY Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs and Nut Group: 2 to 3 SERVINGS Fruit Group: 2 to 4 SERVINGS Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta Group: 6 to 11 SERVINGS