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The Latino Nutrition Council has produced a dietary guide titled Camino Mágico: The Path to a Healthier Life. The guide provides visual and easy-to-understand dietary guidelines and recommends certain product brands that belong to members of the coalition, such as Mission Foods and the US Potato Board. “Latinos have a certain genetic predisposition towards health – for example, they are twice as likely to develop diabetes, so they must adapt their diet with this in mind,” according to LNC’s Liz Mintz. “But there’s no point in having a pyramid if nobody understands it or uses it. That’s why we’re developing educational material to back up the pyramid.” The guidelines, developed in collaboration with the Harvard School of Health, promote foods that are traditionally part of the Latino diet. Compared to the USDA’s pyramid, the LNC’s dietary guidelines recommend less sweet goods and more foods like corn, potatoes and beans, tomatoes, onions and chili peppers. “There is a lot more Latino pride today than 25 years ago. People are going back to their roots and they are proud to do so,” Mintz said. 

Source: Heller, Lorraine, “Hispanic dietary guide set to enter grocery stores.” http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com. The dietary guide is on the LNC Web site, http://www.latinonutrition.org/CaminoMagico.html